New Flight Opportunities Coming To Northwest Florida Regional Airport
By: Stephen Crews
Updated: November 10, 2010
A panhandle airport reaches new heights with the services of a new airline. Vision Airlines will begin offering non-stop flights next month at the Northwest Florida Regional Airport in Okaloosa County. The addition of non-stop service to Miami and Niagara Falls opens up new doors for residents in the panhandle, and it’s especially attractive for snowbirds in the shoulder season. Airport representatives are flying high after announcing the addition of vision airlines. Airport Director Greg Donovan says Vision Airlines bring options no other area airports have. “It is good news for everyone; there is no other service within the area without making multiple connections. It’s less than two hours to make it from one spot to other,” Donovan said. President of the Snowbird Club in Destin, Paul Hewitt says, this is exactly what he was looking for “All the people up in our area and in the Western New York State, we’ve been looking for this for years,” Hewitt said. He lives in Destin for five months out of the year and lives in his hometown of Ontario, Canada for the other seven months. “It’s going to be so much easier for us to get down without having us go through transfers. We don’t even have to go through customs to go there, we just go through at the airport and board the plane, it’s just great,” Hewitt said. Kathy Houchins is the chairman of the Okaloosa County Tourism Development Council. She says more choices mean more opportunities for the panhandle to bounce back. “When you do this, you open up a whole new world, our world, our paradise. It is going to go to many people that have never been here before,” Houchins said. The first flight takes off on December 17th. Vision Airline representatives are already looking at bringing more destinations to the airport. For more information on Vision Airlines, click here.
