State College airport adding sought-after new nonstop destination this fall
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- State College Regional Airport will start two daily nonstop flights to Charlotte Oct. 5.
- American Airlines will operate the new Charlotte service and tickets are already on sale.
- The Fly State College Fund raised more than $200,000 to provide airline incentives.
Nearly a year after publicly stating its desire to expand air service, State College Regional Airport is now set to establish nonstop service to a new destination starting this fall.
According to a Tuesday morning news release from the State College Air Service Alliance — a partnership involving several local organizations — the airport will add two daily flights to Charlotte, North Carolina, starting Oct. 5. American Airlines will be the carrier, and tickets can already be purchased on the carrier’s website.
The local airport currently boasts as destinations Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. American operates the flights to Philadelphia, while United handles the others.
“Through hard work, community collaboration, and a shared commitment to strengthening connectivity in Centre County, we built toward this moment strategically and intentionally,” Greg Scott, president and CEO of the Chamber of Business & Industry of Centre County (CBICC), said in a written statement.
The announcement comes seven months after the convening of a local air service summit, where businesses and community leaders converged to discuss the future of air service in Centre County. During that summit, one of the expressed priorities was to add more destinations to the local airport — ideally Charlotte and somewhere in Florida.
Florida was noted as a priority because data showed Centre County travelers — or, more specifically, those within 60 miles of the State College airport — were most often flying to Orlando and south Florida. Charlotte was near the top of the priorities list for an entirely different reason.
“It’s not really the end destination that’s the attraction,” Scott told the CDT in October. “It’s that it’s a major hub, particularly for American Airlines, which was already established here. So if you can get that flight, it really unlocks this region as a one-stop mode to many destinations that you can get to.”
American Airlines’ hub in Charlotte bills itself as “among the largest in the world” with 170 destinations, including 17 in Florida alone.
Business owners and local government officials have long wanted more robust air service in the area because it has a direct impact on the health and growth of the economy. Businesses may choose to set up elsewhere if it’s not easy to travel here, and former Penn State coach James Franklin even commented about the local airport’s shortcomings.
So, last July, both the CBICC and local tourism bureau Happy Valley Adventure Bureau (HVAB) entered into talks with another airline about potential flights to Florida. That hasn’t yet panned out, but it set the stage for last October’s air service summit and the most recent announcement.
Since that summit, the Fly State College Fund was started — and has raised more than $200,000 — to provide incentives for airlines willing to establish service. (Incentives can include elements such as fee waivers, rent reductions and marketing.) At least a half-dozen carriers have held conversations with the alliance, and the airport authority announced in February it was increasing service to existing routes to Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
“This significant advancement for our community is a result of dedicated work to demonstrate regional demand and grow air service in Centre County,” Mark Higgins, chair of the Centre County Board of Commissioners, said in the news release. “This expansion impacts our region’s economic vitality by attracting businesses, strengthening workforce, and making it more attainable for residents to reach major hub airports, making this new nonstop service a pivotal development for Central Pennsylvania.”
Ralph Stewart, interim executive director of the airport authority, said the Fly State College Fund played an “important role.” But the extent of the incentive package was not immediately known.
The Centre County Airport Authority acquired full ownership of the airport from Penn State earlier this year. The FedEx Ship Center at the airport, which was seen as a critical tenant, closed earlier this month.
Taking leadership of the issue has been the State College Air Service Alliance, a partnership comprised of the airport authority, CBICC, HVAB and Penn State.
