Snowbirds, your flight to Fort Myers, Fla., will soon get shorter.
AirTran Airways announced Sept. 9 that it will offer new daily nonstop service from Akron-Canton Airport to Fort Myers.
The new seasonal service will begin Jan. 12 with a 9 a.m. departure time and 6:30 p.m. return from Fort Myers. The service will run through May 3.
The commitment of Akron-Canton Airport officials and support from the area have been vital to AirTran Airways' success and growth in Northeast Ohio, an AirTran executive said.
In just the last five years at Akron-Canton, AirTran has gone from four daily flights to Atlanta to 13 daily flights to eight nonstop locations -- Atlanta, Boston, New York, Fort Lauderdale (Saturday only), Tampa, Las Vegas, Orlando and Fort Myers.
And every time a destination has been added, the airport has been right-on in its research, and the market responds,said Kevin Healy, vice president of planning and sales for AirTran.
``It's one of the cornerstones of the airline,'' Healy said of Akron-Canton.
He was in town Sept. 9 to give the keynote speech to the Jackson Township Community Improvement Corp..
During an interview, Healy said AirTran wants to continue to grow its markets around the country 20 percent to 30 percent a year. Continued growth at Akron-Canton will depend on how the national market evolves,he said. While other airlines are struggling financially, Healy said AirTran has had six years of profitability.
This year, AirTran started its nonstops from Akron-Canton to Fort Lauderdale and Las Vegas and on Sept. 9 announced it would begin flying nonstop to Fort Myers on Jan. 12.
For its part, Akron-Canton added a new carrier and destination in June, with Frontier Airlines flying to Denver.
Airport Director Fred Krum and Marketing Director Kristie Van Auken have fulfilled a lot of the nonstop destinations on their wish list, but they said they're always looking for more.
Still on the list are Washington, D.C., Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and more service to Chicago. The airport is not talking to any other airlines about opening service at Akron-Canton, Krum said.
The airport has a good ``nucleus'' of innovators ``to do everything we want,'' he said.
