New Bishop Airport service opens gateway to 175 destinations

American Airlines addition of service from Flint to Charlotte opens a gateway to 175 destinations — including major international hubs such as London, Rome, Frankfort and Belize City.

While many in Michigan may not realize its air travel significance, Charlotte Douglas International Airport is actually larger than Detroit Metro — with more destinations, more flights, and more passengers. It is the nation’s 10th largest airport with more than 46 million passengers in 2018.

Flint already has service to Atlanta (the nation’s largest airport) with Delta and to Chicago O’Hare with United American Airlines — but the addition of American Airline’s second- largest hub provides a significant opportunity for local business and vacation travelers, Airport Director Craig Williams said. 

“This is a game-changer for Flint Bishop Airport,” he said. “The entire region will have nonstop jet service to the East Coast with easy connections up and down the seaboard, as well as internationally.”

Tickets went on sale for the flights on Monday, April 15. The new service from Flint Bishop Airport was announced in a press conference April 11, 2019, at the airport.  

The twice daily flights will begin Sept. 4, 2019.

Outgoing flights from Bishop to Charlotte, N.C., are 8:15 a.m. and 2:39 p.m., arriving in North Carolina at 10:30 a.m. and 4:53 p.m. Return flights to Flint will leave Charlotte at 11:51 a.m. and 7:58 p.m. arriving here at 2:06 p.m. and 10:13 p.m.

“American is in the business of making the world more accessible,” said Dec Lee, vice president of Charlotte Hub Operations. “We are excited to be able to connect customers from Flint to more than 160 destinations in 25 countries, with as little as one stop through the Queen City.”

Those 25 countries include popular vacation locales such as Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Barbados, Carribean, Mexico, and Turks and Caicos Islands. European destinations also include Dublin, Ireland; Frankfurt and Munich, Germany; and Madrid, Spain.

American Airlines is the major airline serving Charlotte, with a few destinations also offered by Delta and Frontier.

Along with American Airlines, Delta and United, Flint also offers nonstop flights to four Florida destinations on Allegiant. In February, Allegiant reigned as the largest airline at Bishop, carrying more than 40 percent of the airport’s passengers.

Also this month, United added additional capacity to its Chicago service, one in a series of additions Bishop has announced in the last year since Southwest Airlines stopped its Flint service.

Bishop is the third largest in airport in Michigan, serving more than 700,000 passengers in 2018, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation.