Airport planning for more traffic on isle

Q: This has been mentioned briefly in past articles, but can you please ask whoever is in charge of Galveston Airport: Is there any possibility Galveston’s Airport will begin regularly scheduled commercial flights? Has anyone approached an airline, such as American Airlines, to start service to Dallas DFW or the cruise lines for guarantees, to see if they could start service soon?

Given the very nice renovation of the terminal building and the increasing number of cruise ship passengers, it would be such a convenience to fly into Galveston, and most passengers would even be willing to pay a premium for it. Do we need to secure government funding to help start service, such as they did in Joplin, Mo., and other small towns?

A: Hud Hopkins, airport director at Scholes International Airport at Galveston, replied:

These are great questions, ones that we periodically ask ourselves. Our airport never wants to miss out on an opportunity to expand our services to the flying public.

We have approached Continental Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Northwest, United Airlines as well as several smaller regional airlines, about the possibility of offering passenger service from Scholes Airport.

Unfortunately, these discussions have arrived at the same conclusion: Houston’s Hobby Airport is only 45 minutes from Galveston Island. Hobby boasts numerous gates, a variety of destinations and flights offered at attractive price points.

This makes it very difficult for carriers to operate at our airport profitably.

We are working with the state of Texas to create a business plan and soon will begin seeking competitive proposals from companies that specialize in developing these strategies. We also are working to market and promote the unique amenities Scholes Airport offers.

The majority of our business consists of the offshore industry, corporate traffic, medical flights from Canada and Mexico associated with the University of Texas Medical Branch and the Shriners Hospital for Children-Galveston and, of course, recreational flying.

We continue to look at the possibility of commercial service to serve the public.