That is good news for Lansing's airport; hopefully this new service can last. Kalamazoo is also getting Orlando flights through Avelo Airlines. Granted on different days-of-the-week than Lansing. I think the competition from Grand Rapids, Flint, Detroit, South Bend, now Kalamazoo all having Orlando flights is going to limit the potential growth of Lansing's service. One benefit of Avelo is that it flies in to Orlando International (closer to downtown, Universal, Disney, etc.) rather than Sanford Airport (in the case of Allegiant Air from Grand Rapids/Flint). Lansing has not had great success with Orlando flights in the recent past. Both Grand Rapids and later Flint's Allegiant flights originally came from (departed) Lansing. It will be important for the community to become aware of, and support, the Avelo Lansing flights if they are to last.
From MLive:
Regular service between Lansing and Orlando begins on Thursday, Oct. 27 and service between Kalamazoo and Orlando begins on Friday, Oct. 28. Customers can make reservations at AveloAir.com.
Flights will depart from AZO at 8:50 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays, arriving in Orlando at 11:20 p.m. Flights into Kalamazoo will depart Orlando at 5:25 p.m. and arrive in Kalamazoo at 8:05 p.m.
Flights out of Lansing depart at 8:50 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays, arriving in Orlando at 11:30 p.m. Flights into Lansing will depart Orlando at 5:20 p.m. on those days and arrive in Lansing at 8:05 p.m.
Yes, I have a lot of family living in FLA:{ so I know that Stanford is at least is a good distance northeast of the major attractions. The highways are always packed, and they are scary [to me] and huge, so the drive could make a long and unpleasant start to your vacation. Of course, they could have some sort of transit from there but Orlando International is the way to go. Amtrak stops even closer to the parks right downtown Winter Park, and Orlando. This I am sure a lot of people know, so maybe the flight out of Lansing will be popular.
I'm not a 100% if this is different than the apron project I posted about in July:
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Some major infrastructure upgrades are coming to the Capital Region International Airport (LAN).
According to a statement from the airport, the $3.6 million grant from the American Rescue Plan will be going towards water, sewer and utility upgrades.
The upgrades are estimated to cost around $4.4 million, and the airport will match around $900,000 in local funds.
The new funding is all part of the site readiness development project, which the Lansing airport said is expected to create at least 250 jobs, retain 10 jobs, and generate an estimated $100 million in private investment.
The site readiness development project will create build-ready sites on a 47-acre parcel of undeveloped land at LAN, also including an extension of three-phase electrical infrastructure and creating a regional storm water detention area.
Project design is expected to start in October 2022, with construction expected to begin in spring 2024.
Was just reading on WILX about the +$9 million for infrastructure upgrades around the airport, and one of the projects mentioned was a pedestrian walkway (i.e. sidewalks, lol) from Grand River all the way to the terminal. I just realized that despite the bus accessing the terminal that no sidewalk exists from Grand River to the terminal at all. Of course, you're not having a bunch of people who walk to the terminal to catch a plane, but it'd definitely be a nice option, particularly for all of the businesses and their workers right off of Capital City Boulevard.
The other projects are more general, such as redoing the roadways to make them more durable for all the heavy truck traffic that uses the airport.
That's nice to hear. I either hadn't noticed or forgot there was no sidewalk access for the airport, I imagine this will just be a standard sidewalk along Capitol City Blvd. In my hypothetical trail plan I envision a shared use path travelling next to the RR tracks then turning south along the drain through Horsebrook Park then across Grand River and to the future NW trail extension. I would like to see something like that as well someday.
LANSING — Capital Region International Airport could receive more than $8 million to help build a new terminal as part of nearly $20 million in federal funding for area projects included in a newly approved "minibus" spending bill.
The $8.1 million for the Capital Region Airport Authority will go toward engineering and design work for the terminal at the airport, officials said last spring when seeking the money.
Funding for the projects cleared a "significant" hurdle Wednesday when the U.S. House passed a funding package, which is set to be passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden soon after, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin said Friday.
That's welcome news. The airport authority now says on their website that they expect the new master plan to be released in early 2025 so perhaps we'll get some idea as to the scale and expected cost of a new terminal then. https://www.flylansing.com/business/master-plan
In that last master plan it called for moving the terminal north of the existing main runway off of Dewitt Rd in anticipation of a new larger main runway running parallel to the north with the terminal being in between which would require eliminating State Rd and moving Dewitt Rd again. I think the airport already owns most of the land they need to do this so I kind of expect the plan to stick, or at least something similar.
The airport's current terminal is borderline an embarrassment, I hope they can actually pull off getting a new one built in the not-too-distant future.
I have found the terminal very dark, like are they trying to save money on lighting? There are several car dealerships that have terminal-like buildings, if they can build dealerships like that, it seems like we could build a new well-lit building that looks like we are proud of our city.
Comments
From MLive:
The other projects are more general, such as redoing the roadways to make them more durable for all the heavy truck traffic that uses the airport.
https://www.flylansing.com/business/master-plan
In that last master plan it called for moving the terminal north of the existing main runway off of Dewitt Rd in anticipation of a new larger main runway running parallel to the north with the terminal being in between which would require eliminating State Rd and moving Dewitt Rd again. I think the airport already owns most of the land they need to do this so I kind of expect the plan to stick, or at least something similar.
The airport's current terminal is borderline an embarrassment, I hope they can actually pull off getting a new one built in the not-too-distant future.
It really is. I describe it to out-of-towners as a glorfied bus station.