Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport won a $1 million grant to help start offering nonstop flights to Chicago. BTR was one of 14 airports to receive a grant, and Director of Aviation Mike Edwards says the money will help incentivize a carrier to launch the service.
“Those funds help carriers minimize their risk when they’re starting new service and offset potential losses as the new service builds,” Edwards explained.
The grant issued through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Small Community Air Service Deployment Program is the same as the one that helped launch direct flights to Washington, D.C. Edwards says that service is still going strong.
“That service has been successful. We’ve been able to maintain it over the long term, so that played a part, I think, in DOT’s decision to award BTR this grant; that past performance,” Edwards noted.
Edwards says Chicago has been the airport’s top non-direct destination since it established the Washington, D.C. service. He says nonstop flights to Chicago will improve connectivity in Baton Rouge.
“You’ll be able to get, easily, to destinations across the upper Midwest, and then also Chicago O’Hare is a major international hub, so it offers one-stop connections to destinations across the globe,” Edwards said.
Edwards says the airport hopes to have flights operating next year.
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