American Airlines adds non-stop flight to LAX from Louisville

American already offers seven nonstop destinations from Louisville: Charlotte, Chicago, O. Hare, Dallas / Ft. Worth, Miami, Washington, Reagan National, Washington DC, Philadelphia and New York, LaGuardia.

To encourage the carrier to offer this link, a local group dedicated to providing more non-stop flights to major coastal cities worked behind the scenes to insure the Americans against the losses.

The group – the Louisville Regional Airlift Development Program or DALA – would use a cash reserve to cover monthly losses over a two-year period. LRAD continues to press for nonstop flights to Boston, San Francisco and Seattle, for which it would offer a similar revenue guarantee.

The group would not disclose the total amount of the guaranteed amount, but last week it raised $ 3.5 million, mostly from public funds. This includes a grant of $ 1.33 million from the state, $ 400,000 from the City of Louisville and $ 300,000 from Louisville Tourism.

Most recently, the group received a US $ 900,000 grant and a US $ 600,000 loan from the Louisville Renaissance Zone Corp., a non-profit organization responsible for developing 260 hectares near the airport. Louisville International Airport. He shares a board of directors with the local airport authorities.

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Non-stop flights to these cities would help develop the region's tourism and convention activities and better serve local communities in industry and education, said the promoters of Humana co-founder David Jones Sr.

More than 500,000 local passengers, one-third of Louisville's annual air travelers, travel to Cincinnati or Nashville for better air service, the group said.

Supporters also say the lack of air service is slowing the city's population growth. A LRAD presentation compares the population of Louisville to that of Austin, Charlotte, Nashville and Raleigh since 1980, the Courier Journal reported.

The Louisville metropolitan area, as currently defined, had a larger population than Austin, Nashville and Raleigh, and had about 100,000 fewer inhabitants than Charlotte in 1980, according to the University's Kentucky State Data Center. from Louisville. Today, Louisville follows them all.

Over the last decade, the number of non-stop destinations accessible from Louisville has remained steady at around 30, while the number of destinations accessible from Nashville, a small-scale hub of Southwest Airlines, has increased from 49 to 64 , said the Louisville Regional Airport Authority. the week.

Nevertheless, the number of passengers passing through Louisville increased by 11% compared to last year. United Airlines, in particular, has increased the frequency and size of its flights between Louisville, Chicago, Newark and Houston. A one – third increase in the number of seats available has made Louisville the sixth fastest growing airport for United, the airport said last week.

Meanwhile, the Louisville International Airport is expected to be upgraded to $ 100 million over the next three to five years. These include the replacement of bridges, the area reserved for rental cars, elevators and mobile walkways at the airport.

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This story will be updated.