Joplin airport adds flights to Lone Star State

Airport manager Steve Stockam said the airport’s new carrier, Mesa Air Group, agreed to offer the flights to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

Mesa also will begin serving Joplin with daily roundtrip flights to Kansas City on Aug. 1. Earlier this year, Mesa won the U.S. Department of Transportation’s approval to be the airport’s subsidized essential air service (EAS) carrier.

The department rejected a plan to include Dallas flights under the EAS program. The city plans to use a $500,000 Small Community Air Service grant to subsidize the Dallas service.

The airport plans to conduct two one-hour meetings to update business interests on the new air service, the passenger terminal project and plans for an updated control tower. The sessions will be at 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. July 12 in the basement conference room at City Hall, 602 S. Main St. Reservations are requested and may be made by calling Stockam at the airport at (417) 623-0262, ext. 10, or Lynn Onstot, (417) 624-0820, ext. 204.

Airport officials say the new services will help businesses reach the cities where customers are located, fly in existing and potential clients from virtually all locations, ship orders to customers in the U.S. and abroad, and receive the products and goods needed to conduct business.

The roundtrip fare to Kansas City is $99 before taxes and fees. The fare to Dallas hasn’t been set.