Larisa Abrahamyan was among passengers boarding the first Chattanooga to New York City nonstop flight in four years by Delta Air Lines on Tuesday morning, and she couldn’t have been happier.
The Cleveland, Tennessee, woman said at the airport she was visiting her daughter, who teaches at Columbia University.
“I’ve dreamt about this,” she said while readying to step onto the 76-seat jet flying to LaGuardia International Airport. “I’m just happy.”
Delta restarted daily nonstops between the city and New York after a furlough due to the pandemic.
(READ MORE: Delta resuming New York nonstops)
Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly said the return of the service is key to bolstering the city’s job-growth efforts.
At a news conference, Kelly termed the lack of nonstops in Chattanooga “the biggest single obstacle to economic development I think.”
“Air service development is economic development,” he said.
April Cameron, Chattanooga Airport’s chief executive, said New York is a vital market.
“It’s important for business travelers,” she said at the news conference. “It’s really good from a leisure standpoint.”
The airport provided $50,000 to Delta to help market the flights, which are scheduled to depart daily at 7 a.m. and then return to Chattanooga at 10:15 p.m.
Susan Harris, the Chattanooga Tourism Co.’s chief operating officer, said at the airport that New York was a top location from which people visited Chattanooga before the pandemic. But those visits dropped sharply over the past four years, she said.
“We know people want to travel and return here from New York City,” Harris said.
Jim Hall, who chairs the airport authority, said in an interview Lovell Field needs to keep up with the growth the Chattanooga area is seeing.
He said it’s important for travelers in the area to use Chattanooga Airport rather than drive to Atlanta or Nashville to fly.
(READ MORE: Airport targeting new services, travelers)
According to a 2023 study, the airport captured just 42.3% of the domestic traffic flying in the tristate area and 20% of the international passengers.
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport drew 27.3% of the area’s domestic traffic and 57.4% of the international travelers, the study showed.
Nashville International Airport captured 24.4% of domestic passengers and almost 18% of the international traffic, the study said.
Brenda Jones, Delta’s station manager in Chattanooga, said in an interview the Tuesday morning flight attracted 43 passengers on the 76-seat plane.
She said she’s hopeful the New York flight will help reach the goal of the airport attracting even more nonstops.
Dan Jacobson, the airport authority’s vice chair, said he believes Lovell Field is at a major turning point and a resurgence from the pandemic.
Chattanooga passenger boardings are on pace in 2024 to approach the record traffic number set five years ago, according to the airport.
Cameron said earlier she’s unsure if traffic will hit the 554,000 passenger milestone, but she expected to be “very close” to the 2019 prepandemic record.
Jacobson said nonstops to Denver are high on the airport’s wish list, as well as more regular direct flights to Miami and service to the West Coast.
He said there’s the potential for eventually adding international flights.
Lovell Field is funneling $520,000 of additional money this budget year into wooing new airline service and marketing the airport to travelers.
Incentives to attract new service will surge by $270,000, up 300%, in Lovell Field’s spending plan this budget year, Cameron said earlier.
But she said the money will only be spent if the airport attracts service from an airline new to Chattanooga or an existing carrier adds flights.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.
Staff photo by Mike Pare / Passengers at Chattanooga Airport board the first Delta Air Lines nonstop to New York in four years on Tuesday. The flights were furloughed due to the pandemic.