Denver Air Connection is providing new jet service between Muskegon County Airport (MKG) and Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) in Illinois as of Nov. 1 this year.
A subsidiary of Key Lime Air, Denver Air Connection’s service marks Muskegon County Airport’s return to reliable regional jet transportation after terminating the agreement it previously held with Southern Airways. Now Denver Air Connection, which has a reputation for reliability and high percentage of on-time flights, has agreed to provide 12 round-trip flights per week to ORD: two daily on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday and one daily on Tuesday and Saturday.
“The new Denver Air Connection 50-seat jet service from MKG to ORD gives potential meeting attendees a reliable way to get to and from Muskegon from out of state,” says Robert M. Lukens, Muskegon County community development director. “The new service also enables seamless connections to the world from Chicago O’Hare, with interline agreements between Delta Air Connection and the big three: United Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines.”
Interline agreements pave the way for airlines to work together on such items as baggage and ticketing. Denver Air Connection shares baggage and ticketing agreements with United Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines for ease in booking and uninterrupted bag transfers to the destinations the airlines serve. Flight times from Muskegon County Airport will run about 35 minutes to Chicago O’Hare, where passengers can access 282 destinations with a single layover.
As part of the agreement, Muskegon County Airport offers benefits to travelers that include free parking and free checked bags.
Officials say the announcement is the most important in a package of items that are part of an ongoing strategic transformation of Muskegon County Airport. Besides the return to reliable jet service, they include a comprehensive passenger terminal renovation and modernization during the coming winter along with a $22 million airfield construction and improvement project, renovation and reopening of the terminal restaurant, and construction of post-security family restrooms—the airport expects the latter three to be complete by spring next year.
Luken says, “The new service allows meeting planners to bring out-of-state speakers and experts to their events, providing greater variety for their meetings, seminars, conventions, and events.”
