Our Perspective on launching direct flights from Amarillo to Austin

AMARILLO, TX (KFDA) - Earlier this year, the Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport opened direct flight service to Phoenix, Arizona.

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Now, the Airport and the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce have launched a new survey to test the interest in a direct flight from Amarillo to Austin and a few other destinations.

I asked a few questions:

• Do increased flights raise our local taxes?
  • No was the resounding answer.
• What is the financial impact from an additional flight? 
  • This is hard to say, but we know it does increase concessions and parking, along with more productivity for each airline staff member and more connectivity to our airport that we already pay for to keep open.
• Why are we doing this?
  • We are here to service our community, and if this helps, we are all on board to ask the air carriers to step in and fulfill a need.

The Perspective might be that all-in-all, an additional direct flight connects us to locations at a lower price monetarily and a lower price for our time due to not having to connect in other airports.

You can fill out the survey here.

Lubbock has a direct flight to Austin, and this is the time to share your Perspective on the need or the value you might find in additional direct flights.

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