C.R.-Houston service may lead to East Coast flights

CEDAR RAPIDS - Direct flights on Continental Express between The Eastern Iowa Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston will offer Eastern Iowa travelers a new gateway to Latin America and could lead to expanded service to the East Coast.

Airport Director Tim Bradshaw said travelers, travel agents and corporate travel planners should consider using the new flights, not just for short-term benefits, but to attract long-term expanded service for the region.

“Houston is the largest hub in United's system,” Bradshaw said. “If Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and regional travelers use the new flights, it would make The Eastern Iowa Airport much more attractive to United for additional service, such as non-stop flights to Washington, D.C., and Newark.”

Two daily flights on a 50-seat regional jet will be offered Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday with a single daily flight on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. The non-stop service, announced in October as United Airlines and Continental Airlines started to merge, began Tuesday.

On Thursday, passengers arriving in Cedar Rapids from Houston were greeted by airline and airport staff. Their aircraft also received a traditional dousing with a water cannon, welcoming Continental to the airport.

Passengers flying out at 5 p.m. were treated to some Tex-Mex food, preparing them for their journey to the Lone Star State.

George Bush Intercontinental Airport is the eighth-largest U.S. airport for total traffic and international passenger traffic. In 2009, more than 40 million passengers traveled through the five-runway airport.

The 10,000-acre facility, which opened in 1969, offers service to more Mexican destinations than any other airport in the United States. Passenger air carriers include AeroMexico, Air Canada, Air France, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, KLM, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, TACA, United Airlines, US Airways and VivaAerobus.

The Eastern Iowa Airport has direct flights to Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Orlando, Phoenix-Mesa and Tampa-St. Petersburg. Delta Airlines will offer seasonal direct service from Cedar Rapids to Memphis from June 19 to Aug. 15 and resume non-stop flights between Cedar Rapids and Atlanta on Aug. 16.

Delta pulled its direct flights to Atlanta from Cedar Rapids in August 2009 after the airline merged with Northwest Airlines and made various changes throughout its system. Delta began service between Cedar Rapids and Atlanta with a daily flight in June 2006 and added a second flight in June 2007.

The impact of the national economic recession on business and leisure travel, combined with airline mergers, has reduced the number of flights and the size of aircraft serving The Eastern Iowa Airport. From a peak of 1.1 million passengers in 2007, traffic declined to just over 912,000 passengers in 2010.