Working Together to Expand Air Service
The Partnership collected 95 letters of support for a Small Community Air Service Development Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The grant, if awarded, will help add nonstop air service from Roanoke to Dallas or Denver. Our partners — the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, Montgomery County Office of Economic Development, and Congressman Bob Goodlatte’s office – helped us reach out to a broad geography and gather the letters from the private and public sectors in only a few days.
“This effort matters to the entire region because air service is so important to economic development,” said Beth Doughty, executive director of the Partnership. “Nonstop service to the west could make our service easier, more reliable, and maybe even less expensive.”
“[Dallas and Denver] are two of our top markets,” Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport Executive Director Tim Bradshaw told WDBJ-7. “We have a lot of people travel back and forth to those cities, but also, they’re a major hub for American and United and others, so it would provide a great connection to our western markets.”