XNA Adds Cleveland Flights

Continental Airlines will begin providing service from the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill to Cleveland’s Hopkins International Airport on April 4.rt

The one daily non-stop flight on an Embraer regional jet will leave XNA at 7:15 a.m. and arrive at Cleveland at 10:39 a.m. The return trip will leave Cleveland at 8:30 p.m. and arrive in Highfill at 10 p.m.rt

Scott Van Laningham, executive director of XNA, said Continental surprised the airport executives with news of the Cleveland flight in early November. Continental began service from XNA to its main hub in Houston about a year ago and later added flights to Newark, N.J. rt

Cleveland is Continental’s third busiest hub behind the two mentioned above. Adding flights from XNA to Cleveland will make it easier for travelers to get to cities in the Northeast, Van Laningham said.rt

The April date will give XNA time to complete a $7 million construction project to add 55,793 SF of paved parking for airplanes. Currently, the airport can accommodate five or six parked planes. With the additional space, it will be able to park nine, which will make room for the Continental jet to remain overnight before the morning flights back to Cleveland.rt

Van Laningham said the airport also plans to construct a $1.4 million covered walkway off the northwest corner of the building in the spring.r

Van Laningham said enplanements were up by 17.2 percent in October to 45,253. For the first 10 months of the year, enplanements were up 10.4 percent to 368,859, when compared to the first 10 months of 2002. r

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XNA Daily Flightsrtrt

Here’s a look at the 47 flights that depart daily from the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill. Comair is adding a third flight to Cincinnati in January, and Continental is adding a flight to Cleveland in April:rtrt

American Airlines
rtnine to Dallas/Fort Worth
rtfour to Chicago O’Hare
rtthree to New York City’s LaGuardia
rttwo to St. Louis
rtone to Los Angelesrtrt

Atlantic Southeast Airlines and Comair (Delta Connection)
rtsix to Atlanta
rtfour to Dallas/Fort Worth
rttwo to Cincinnati

rtrtContinental Express
rtfive to Houston
rttwo to Newark, N.J.
rtNorthwest Airlines
rtfour to Memphis
rttwo to Minneapolis

rtrtU.S. Air Express
rtthree to Charlotte, N.C.

rtrtTotal: 47 flights to 12 destinations

rtrtSource: Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport