In an unconfirmed conversation with an employee of Southwest Airlines, I have learned that Nashville will be chosen along with Baltimore to fly non-stop to the new Panama City International Airport. According to my source, Southwest Airlines will be the only discount fare carrier who flies the Nashville to Panama City route non-stop.
According to the Panama City International Airport blog, the airport will be open for business in 7 months and 10 days just in time for the beginning of peak beach season.
I always suspected that Nashville’s BNA would be chosen for a non-stop route to the new PCB airport, but it is nice to hear from an insider that we are one of the chosen departure points. This should mean a heck of a lot of new business for BNA as Nashville will become the main collector airport for the Panama City hub and spoke flight system.
My source would not say how many flights a day will travel the Panama City route, but she did say that, “there will be at least 2 flights a day and that volume may double during the peak weeks depending upon demand. Thankfully, Southwest Airlines is a very modern and flexible airline that has the capacity and ability to meet changing demands.”
I am not sure about you, but I think I need a vacation. Rosemary Beach, here I come (and I’m not driving 8 hours either)! Thank you Southwest Airlines and St. Joe Company.
Update 10/21/2009
Today Southwest Airlines officially released news that they will be servicing the new Panama City Int’l Airport on their official company blog. However, they have not said which cities the routes will include other than Panama City. Look for Nashville announcement to come shortly! 🙂
