HELENA — On Tuesday, officials with the Helena Regional Airport met with the Helena Chamber of Commerce to discuss efforts to bring new flight options to travelers.
"We held the Helena Air Service Alliance Update Meeting for the community today because there's a lot of questions, a lot of interest on their service. It's a very complicated business, and so there's a lot of unknowns, misconceptions out there by the public, and I think, you know, our biggest goal is just to educate, inform people, let them know what's going on in the airline industry today," said Jeff Wadekamper, Helena Regional Airport Director.
Back in March, the airport announced the return of a second daily united airlines flight between Helena and Denver that started this month, along with the additional flight, united also started operating bigger jets.
"I think that's a big part of the success story that we wanted everybody to understand too, is that we've made the transition from 50-seat jets to 76-seat jets, you know, most recently on United, in addition to then bringing the second daily flight back between Helena and Denver, I mean, that's really big," said Wadekamper.
The airport also continues to work with the Helena Air Service Alliance to add more opportunities possibly as early as next year.
Wadekamper clarified that it's the airlines that set ticket prices, not the airport, but the airport can control the costs the airlines pay to use the airport.
"I think it's very important to have, you know, folks from all different venues, you know, from regular public, up to organizations and businesses, because it does affect everybody," said Wadekamper.
Wadecamper also recognized the support of the community and encouraged the community to use the Helena regional airport for travel to and from Montana.
"Helena is growing. We've got a great community, we've got a great airport facility, we've got the capabilities to handle a whole wide range of aircraft. So there's a lot of opportunities, a lot of positives," said Wadekamper.
Statics show that The Helena Regional Airport has seen just over 51,000 passengers so far in 2023, down about 4% from this time last year.
