St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis made the announcement at a press conference in early February, according to the St. Cloud Times, at which he stated that United Express service will begin the twice-daily flights on May 6.

 

Kleis stated the United flights will be provided by SkyWest Airlines using Canadair Regional Jet 200 aircraft with a capacity of 50 passengers.  The service will provide travelers with an estimated 127 domestic and 37 international connections each day.

 

According to the United web site (www.united.com) on Thursday, the initial round-trip flights will cost $186 per passenger.  Published reports indicate there will be two O’Hare to St. Cloud flights on May 6, since the aircraft originates in Chicago, but from May 7 onward flights will depart from St. Cloud at 6:30 a.m. and 1:54 p.m.  Chicago to St. Cloud departures are scheduled for 11:55 a.m. and 8:30 p.m.

 

In mid-December, Allegiant Air began offering direct flights between St. Cloud and Orlando Sanford International Airport.  The airport’s published schedule shows regular Saturday service between St. Cloud and Orlando through Sat., April 26.

 

The new flights are the next step in the expansion of commercial air service from St. Cloud that began when Allegiant inaugurated flights to the Phoenix-Mesa area in December, 2012.  Published reports indicate that nearly 30,000 passengers have flown from St. Cloud since the air service began.

 

Allegiant’s published flight schedule shows Monday, Wednesday and Friday flights from St. Cloud to Phoenix, while the schedule changes to Monday and Friday flights from April through August of this year.

 

According to information credited to airport staff, the “load factor” for Allegiant flights leaving St. Cloud was higher than 92% through last November, compared to a national average of all flights of 83.49%.