For the third time this year, Indiana is adding additional direct flights to strategic business destinations. New flights started in January with nonstop service from Indianapolis to San Francisco, followed by Southwest Airlines announcing nonstop Indy flights to Washington, D.C. in March. Now, in May, both Fort Wayne and Evansville are celebrating American Airlines' new East Coast nonstop flights to Charlotte. American Airlines is also inaugurating nonstop service from Fort Wayne to Philadelphia. That’s five additional nonstop announcements in five months to serve our growing economy and increased business travel to the Hoosier State.
Equally important is the fact that these new flights are distributed across the state in Evansville, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, each recognized as regional hubs themselves. These recent flight additions are evidence of something that was inevitable. As more people gravitate toward Indiana’s business friendly environment, more connections to other clusters of commerce are being added, not just in Indy, but throughout the state in Evansville and Fort Wayne as well.
A regional win is a state win, and every major thoroughfare for business we add in one Hoosier city connects to other avenues of opportunity in every Indiana region.
New direct business flights are coming online not just in the center of the state, but now in the northeast corner and the southwest. With the northwest and southeast corners practically on top of Chicago and Louisville international airports, there is literally no region of Indiana that isn’t covered by a significant air hub.
Rest assured, we will continue to pursue additional air service as needed and warranted throughout the state. South Bend Airport’s announcement of international status in April, with plans for a $3 million addition that will include an international customs and border patrol inspection station, is further evidence of our commitment to attracting new air travel connections in the Hoosier State.
As business traveler volume grows with more companies moving to Indiana, our transportation connections radiate outward to the rest of the U.S. It’s proof that growth in one region of the state spurs growth in others, and it’s yet another reason why Indiana is a state that works.