Editorapp Note: Mississippi Valley Publishing was invited to make the inaugural flight from Burlington Regional Airport to Chicagoapp OappHare International Airport on Contour Airlines jet service. The Hawk Eye City Editor Tracey Lamm made the round-trip flight Tuesday.
Alli and Dylan Campbell, Keokuk, are spending the Fourth of July holiday on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. The jet service provided by Contour Airlines, which took off for the first time Tuesday morning from Burlington Regional Airport, figured heavily into the coupleapp travel plans.
Alli said the short drive from Keokuk to Burlington, free parking and the price point for the flight made the choice to begin their journey to the cape an easy one to make. appIt is super easy to get here, and the prices are good,app Campbell said. At $59 one-way, Campbell said she was surprised because her experience with smaller airports is usually more expensive.
appFlying out of here (BRL) makes life easier for us,app Campbell said.
She and Dylan were among about 10 individuals who made the first Contour Airlines flight Tuesday morning. The jet service makes the five-hour car trip in about 40 minutes. More time is spent embarking, taxi time on the runway, and disembarking than actual time in the sky.
The jet seats about 30 and some seats have been removed to provide passengers with ample leg room, something that is missing from almost all coach class air service, where most budget airlines are increasingly trimming personal space for passengers in efforts to load more people onto the plane.
There is beverage and light snack service on the flight as well as a restroom.
Cameron Anderson, the flight attendant for Tuesdayapp trip, said the new route from Burlington to Chicago is an opportunity for him to get to know the commuters that will travel the route often.
appAfter a while you have repeat customers, commuters and you get to know them and about them. Itapp like having aunts and uncles all over,app Anderson said.
Among the passengers Tuesday morning were West Burlington Mayor Ron Teater and his wife and daughter. Before disembarking in Chicago, Teeter put on his community ambassador hat to give Anderson the low-down on places to go and things to do while he makes Burlington his home for the foreseeable future.
The jet service will depart Burlington daily at 9:20 a.m., with an arrival time at OappHare of 10:30 a.m. An additional afternoon departure on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will depart Burlington at 4 p.m. Departures from OappHare to Burlington on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are at 11:30 a.m.; Tuesday and Saturday at 2:05 p.m. and at 6:40 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Burlington Regional Airport Authority Chairman Charlie Walsh said Burlington is fortunate to have all modes of transportation represented: rail, highway, river and now jet service out of the regional airport.
The Burlington Regional Airport has undergone a multi-year $27 million facility upgrade, and hosted two ribbon cuttings Tuesday afternoon, with the welcoming of Contour Airlines as the commercial jet service provider and the unveiling of the Jet Air commercial hangar, located to the north of the airportapp terminal.
BRL Airport Manager Sara Sandburg the next step at the airport is the expansion of the area where the Transportation Safety Administration checks in passengers and the pre-board passenger waiting area. Both are not large enough to accommodate higher volume crowds for the jet service.
In 2026, the parking lot will also get a renovation, with the airport receiving a federal congressional appropriation from Iowa Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks, (R-IA 1). Sandburg said the $4.1 million project will be paid for with funds from the Community Project Fund, and the infrastructure bill signed three years ago ($3,518,000) and the rest, $482,000 are local funds.
The newly constructed business hangar is a building on the airportapp grounds, and it is leased by the airportapp fixed base operator, Jet Air.
The total project cost, $2.4 million, included federal American Rescue Plan Act funds that Governor Kim Reynolds divided among the commercial airports in Iowa Sandburg said. Total ARPA funds of $1,690,200 plus $125,000 in vertical infrastructure funding from the Iowa Department of Transportation, and a local match of $584,800 made the hangar possible.
The lease with JetAir for services provided because of the business hangar will equal $700,000 over time.
The aviation services JetAir provides include some charter service from the airport, flight training for pilots, fuel sales, aircraft sales and maintenance. Other aviation services include air medical and air ambulance, overnight freight of critical manufacturing parts, and military aircraft.
The airport also has commercial operations that include participation in Essential Air Service, a USDOT program and commercial air service.