The Dane County Regional Airport announced they will be adding a new, nonstop direct flight service to Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina, according to a Jan. 28 press release.
Breeze Airways will begin the service May 8, with tickets starting at $49 available to purchase now, according to the press release.
RDU is the third direct nonstop service MSN has added in the last six weeks, bringing it to a total of 19 direct nonstop flights offered, Dane County Airport deputy director of communications and strategy Carrie Springer said.
“We are absolutely looking to recruit more services,” Springer said. “We are growing very strongly… and we’re not going to stop with 19 destinations. We’re just going to keep adding them.”
The motivation to add direct nonstop service to RDU sprung from observed demand and desire to cross-stimulate the business, research and leisure spheres in each destination, according to the press release.
Rich opportunities lie within the economies of Madison and Raleigh both being anchored in university-led research, and the very different but very beautiful vacation environments, Springer said.
“[Direct nonstop flights] help businesses recruit talent here,” Springer said. “If there’s more nonstop flights, a company that’s looking for a midwest location in the North Carolina area, they might now consider the Madison region … because they can have direct service here.”
President of Downtown Madison Jason Illstrup said that places like the Monona Terrace and Alliant Energy Center will benefit from the new nonstop service because it will improve conference pitches during a press conference, according to Springer.
Though MSN is located in Wisconsin’s capitol city, the state’s largest airport is Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. Many Wisconsinites opt for Chicago O’Hare International Airport, as well, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
MSN’s size and services are steadily getting closer to MKE, which currently has 30 direct nonstop flights, Springer said.
“We are one stop away from most of the world,” Springer said. “I know last year, my family and I went to Paris, and we started here in Madison, and we had one stop, then we were in Paris. It is possible just to get just about anywhere starting in Madison.”
The increase in University of Wisconsin students from California led Breeze Airways to extend the length of their direct nonstop service to Los Angeles International Airport season to ensure they fulfilled the needs of students leaving and coming back from school, according to Springer.
MSN currently has direct nonstop services to the top five most common states that out-of-state UW students are from, including Minnesota, according to their website.
There are no nonstop direct services to the 6th and 7th most common states, Maryland and Connecticut, according to their website.
The two other additions to MSN’s nonstop services in the past six weeks both go to Boston, Massachusetts, on Delta Airlines and American Airlines, according to the press release. Massachusetts is the 8th most common home state for out-of-state UW students, according to College Factual.
“We work very closely with UW to get data and information that we need to take to the airlines to show them they should go here,” Springer said. “We go to a lot [of airports] that bring students, but there’s always room for growth, so we will definitely keep in touch with UW.”
