Hoosiers interested in heading to the East Coast are in luck — the Indianapolis International Airport is adding three nonstop flights to South Carolina and Maine.
United Airlines in May will begin servicing the nonstop flights to Hilton Head Island and Charleston, South Carolina, and Portland, Maine, IND announced Thursday. Flights to Hilton Head Island will be scheduled three days per week and those to Charleston and Portland four.
Charleston and Portland flights will begin on May 27, and flights to Hilton Head Island will launch on May 28.
“This is the first time IND has had nonstop flights to Hilton Head Island and Portland, Maine,” Indianapolis Airport Authority Executive Director Mario Rodriguez said in a Thursday news release. Earlier in the month, the airport announced a new nonstop flight to Pensacola, Florida, through Spirit Airlines.
Other additions to the airport this year have included a new airline, Sun Country Airlines, and nonstop flights to Boston and Los Angeles.
The air travel industry was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic in the last year, and Indianapolis was no exception. Overall passenger traffic in 2020 was 57% lower than 2019, according to data published by the Indianapolis Airport Authority.
In April, when Hoosiers and the rest of the country were told to stay home, IND saw a 96% decrease in passengers compared to the previous April, an IndyStar analysis of travel data showed.
United Airlines in a prepared statement on the new flights out of Indianapolis said the airline has been "strategic and thoughtful" about adding new travel destinations during the pandemic. United said it will now have the most flights to Portland out of all airlines.
United currently offers nonstop flights from Indy to Denver, Newark, Washington-Dulles, Houston-Intercontinental, Chicago-O’Hare and Ft. Myers.
Transportation reporter Ethan May contributed to this report.
Contact Lawrence Andrea at 317-775-4313 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @lawrencegandrea.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis International Airport adds 3 new nonstop flights
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