This tiny airport will soon get its first commercial flight in 30 years | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

While some airports see tens of thousands of passenger flights take off per year, others serve only a few charter carriers or exist exclusively for regional flight training, medical and agricultural services.

At the end of September, Safford Regional Airport (SAD) in Arizona’s Graham County lost its last commercial flight after a government contract to operate an Essential Air Service route to Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX) ran out of funding.

Over the next three months, Safford Regional has been running only certain select charter and air ambulance flights.

New United Express flight to connect rural Mississippi to Houston hub

While such rural airports usually struggle with understaffing due to a lack of traffic numbers that would make them interesting to commercial airlines without government subsidies, one such regional airport can report good news as its prepares to start a new flight for United Express.

Operated by Utah-based SkyWest Airlines for United Express service, the flight will go from Natchez-Adams County Airport (HEZ) in southwestern Mississippi to George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston as a way to connect the rural community to a major United Airlines hub.

The flight will launch on July 1 and run daily between the two cities. It will run on a CRJ200 jet with room for 50 passengers and take just under 45 minutes in a drive that would otherwise take almost six hours.

The last commercial flights out of Natchez by Gulfstream International and Comair for Delta Air Lines was phased out by 1997 due to high costs unjustified by traveler demand at the time. By July, the airport at Natchez will be fitted with TSA screening facilities so that travelers can pass security directly. While this signals a potentially larger expansion, no other flights out of Natchez-Adams County have been announced at this time.

The flight connecting Natchez with Houston International will be operated by SkyWest for United Express.

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“It’s going to be quite the celebration”: SkyWest Manager

With SkyWest also running flights to Mississippi cities of Meridian (MEI) and Hattiesburg (PIB) for United Express, the new Natchez route adds a third destination in the state for the regional carrier operating flights to various remote and rural communities.

As Natchez has largely been cut off from commercial air service since the 1990s, the new route has been very warmly received by local politicians, authorities and residents.

“It will be just like you’re flying out of Jackson or Baton Rouge,” Kevin Wilson, who heads the local Adams County Board of Supervisors, said to local media. “You’ll park in Natchez, check in with TSA, and fly anywhere in the world on a single United ticket.”

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“It’s truly exciting to see how many people have come out today to support this new service and it’s going to be quite a celebration if this is what today looks like,” Ted Christensen, the manager of route planning for SkyWest, also said in a press conference for the new route. “I can’t imagine what July 1 is going to look like when there’s a United Jet landing right here on this runway. It will be quite the shot.”