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Airport Adds 3 Atlanta Flights

Posted on: Thursday, 1 September 2005, 21:00 CDT

Atlanta options

The Central Illinois Regional Airport on Dec. 1 will offer more flights from Bloomington to Atlanta via Delta Connection. Here's the flight schedule, which nearly mirrors the flight schedule of AirTran Airways.

Departs

Arrives

Bloomington at 5:40 a.m.

Atlanta at 8:29 a.m.

Bloomington at 12:15 p.m.

Atlanta at 3:04 p.m.

Bloomington at 5:15 p.m.

Atlanta at 8:07 p.m.

Atlanta at 11:02 a.m.

Bloomington at 11:45 a.m.

Atlanta at 4:02 p.m.

Bloomington at 4:45 p.m.

Atlanta at 8:50 p.m.

Bloomington at 9:36 p.m. ---------

BLOOMINGTON -- The Central Illinois Regional Airport is getting more flights to Atlanta, and airport officials are not celebrating.

Delata Connection announced Monday it would offer three daily, round-trip flights from Bloomington to Atlanta beginning Dec. 1. The service will be operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

But the airport already offers three flights to Atlanta through AirTran Airways, and Executive Director Carl Olson said it did not try to attract a competitor.

"The Airport Authority is concerned this will have a destabilizing impact on the other services at the airport. It's going to be disruptive. The airport has no ability or authority to prevent that. We're obligated to accommodate them," he said.

Olson claims Delta's plans are to compete with AirTran, rather than offer a needed service at the airport.

Asked why Delta decided to bring more flights from Bloomington to Atlanta, spokesman Todd Bailey said: "Atlanta is the world's largest single airline hub.

"From Atlanta, (airline customers) have access to more than 1,000 departures daily. It's one-stop access to the world."

The three Delta flights will depart from Bloomington at 5:40 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 5:15 p.m., just minutes before AirTran's current flights leave. Each flight takes about two hours.

Also, Delta's regional jets will carry up to 50 people, 67 fewer than AirTran's 117-passenger jets.

And, according to Olson, AirTran is a better bargain.

"By in large AirTran is a lower fare carrier," he said. "The business (community) views AirTran as the flagship carrier of the Central Illinois Regional Airport."

Delta is offering "special low introductory fares" for travel between Dec. 1 and Feb. 14, 2006, including round-trip to Atlanta for $119 each way.

But a round-trip AirTran flight to Atlanta leaving Dec. 1 and returning Dec. 8, could be purchased Monday for $94 each way, according to the airline's Web site.

The Bloomington-Normal airport also offers flights to Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit and Orlando.

Source: Pantagraph

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