(SOUTH BEND) - The city's International Airport saw a more than 20-percent jump in usage during the first three quarters of 2018. Average growth for similarly sized airports was three to seven-percent in the same time frame.
Local leaders gathered Thursday to announce the numbers and
highlight the work of Project Propel, a regional initiative meant to more draw
attention, more airlines and more flight options to South Bend to help the area
prosper.
Project Propel’s leaders are pushing a ‘fly local first’ policy to
encourage people, governments, businesses and schools to choose to fly
out of South Bend instead of Chicago.
The initiative covers Elkhart, St. Joseph and Marshall Counties in
Indiana and Berrien County in Michigan.
Nearly 740,000 people flew out of South Bend in the first nine
months of 2018. That's 124,000 more than in the same period in 2017.
American Airlines returned to the airport with new direct flights to
Dallas/Fort Worth and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Officials say they will continue to push ‘fly local’ and hope that airlines
will choose to grow in South Bend.