Plans for a new Macon airline are up, up, and away. The Middle Georgia Regional Airport picked Contour Airlines as its new Air Service Provider. It’s based in Nashville. A new airline could help local businesses. Lowe Aviation is a family business, one that started seventy years ago.
They provide fuel for Middle Georgia Regional aircrafts, and Vice President Edward Lowe said he hopes the new airline will buy fuel from them. “Yeah, it would be great to have an airline in town that would need our services,” said Lowe.
They’re right next door to the Middle Georgia Regional Airport. Lowe said having a new airline would be great for their business and for the community. “That’s money that the city will make on the services they require here,” said Lowe. “It’ll provide jobs.”
Mayor Robert Reichert agrees. “It will provide daily funds to Macon Bibb County,” said Mayor Reichert. “Also, it gives us air service out to a very popular destination. So it’s going to combine with other things to make Middle Georgia a more attractive place to live.”
If approved by federal officials, Contour Airlines will offer non-stop flights to Washington, DC, which the county calls their second most desirable destination. Officials say the airline would serve military personnel from Robins Air Force Base and vacationers. Also, ticket prices could be as low as $50 each way.
The plan isn’t final yet. The project is waiting on final approval by the Federal Airline Administration. Also, the airline says they’ll need more than $4.5 million a year subsidy from the federal government to fund the flights. Mayor Reichert said, the city hopes to have the final approval by the end of this year.
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/middle-georgia-regional-airport-picks-new-airline/286289857