With options to travel to more than a dozen U.S. and Caribbean destinations, AirTran Airways is expected to bring low-cost air travel to Grand Rapids' Gerald R. Ford International Airport.
According to excerpts from the story:
Grand Rapid's Gerald R. Ford International Airport will finally get new service on a major low-cost carrier. That comes this spring, when AirTran Airways starts flying from the Michigan city to Baltimore/Washington (BWI) and Orlando. Both routes begin May 4, with two daily round-trip flights a day to BWI and one to Orlando. Grand Rapids officials hope the entrance of AirTran will help lower fares – and stimulate travel in a market that has been clamoring for low-cost service since now-defunct ATA left the city in 2005.
Local leaders point to AirTran's decision to add Richmond, saying AirTran's 2005 arrival there sparked a major boom in air travel. The Grand Rapids Press writes "before the airline's arrival, prices for flights out of Richmond International Airport were some of the highest in the nation -- much like those currently for Gerald R. Ford International Airport. But immediately after AirTran's arrival, fares dropped significantly -- in some cases, by more than 50% said Richmond Airport Spokesman Tony Bell."
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