FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For More Information:

Carl Olson                                                                   

Central Illinois Regional Airport                         

309-663-7384                                                            

NEW FLIGHT TO MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL DEPARTS CIRA

Daily Flight to Shopper’s Paradise, Land of Ten Thousand Lakes Began Today  

(June 4, 2009 Bloomington , IL ) Contest winners on their way to Mall of America, business travelers headed to varied locations throughout the northwest, and travelers excited about visiting relatives were among those that boarded the new nonstop flight to Minneapolis-St. Paul at the Central Illinois Regional Airport today. 

Flight 2131, a Canadair regional jet in Northwest Airlines colors, left Central Illinois Regional Airport promptly at 7:05 a.m. with a celebratory water cannon salute. While today’s flight was handled by a crew in Northwest uniforms, it is actually now considered a Delta Connection operation.  The transition to Delta branding and colors will be complete at CIRA on July 14^th, 2009. 

The daily schedule is as follows:

TO Minneapolis , MN

Depart                                      Arrive                           Flight No.                     Frequency

7:05 a.m.                                  8:25 a.m.                      2131                            Daily

FR Minneapolis , MN

Depart                                      Arrive                           Flight No.                     Frequency

6:55 p.m.                                  8:10 p.m.                      2120                            Daily

“This is an excellent addition to our air service.  Business travelers and leisure travelers alike will have wonderful access to not only Minneapolis-St. Paul but the northwest portion of the United States, Canada and other international destinations.”, according to Carl Olson, Executive Director of the Central Illinois Regional Airport. “Minneapolis-St. Paul was a huge Northwest hub with hundreds of daily flights.  Now that Delta and Northwest have merged to become the largest airline in the world, CIRA passengers have access to even more destinations.”  

In addition to the new Minneapolis-St. Paul flight, Northwest added a third flight to Detroit into their CIRA schedule.  The daily 6:50 a.m. departure will also be on a Canadair regional jet.

“The timing of these new flights allows our business travelers to day trip to meetings and appointments while our leisure travelers will enjoy getting to their vacation destinations early and returning to Bloomington-Normal after a full day, making the most of their leisure time.” added Olson.

With the lowest average fares in the central Illinois region, the Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal completed another record year in 2008 with a total of 532,870 passengers.  This was CIRA’s sixth consecutive year of increases in passenger traffic and its third straight year of record setting passenger numbers.  For more information please visit www.cira.com.