Illinois airport aims to add carriers and more flights

[July 25, 2024]  By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Willard Airport in Champaign County is aiming to join other Illinois airports with more flights and destinations.

University of Illinois-Willard Airport Executive Director Tim Bannon said the ultimate goal is for Willard to be the airport of choice in Downstate Illinois.

“We have a lot of demand. Willard Airport only retains 14% of all passengers leaving Champaign County every day, which means we have a lot of room to grow,” Bannon said.

With community members stepping up to provide funding, Bannon said Willard has almost $3 million available for multiple recruitment efforts.

“So we are actively recruiting airlines to serve our airport, to give us a shot so that we can prove them right, that this is a good decision to come into our community,” Bannon said.

Four airlines operate out of Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington, with service to Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Orlando and Tampa-St. Petersburg.

General Wayne A. Downing International Airport in Peoria hosts three airlines offering flights to Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Mesa and St. Petersburg.

Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield has three airlines with flights to Chicago, Orlando, Punta Gorda and Tampa.

University of Illinois-Willard Airport, which is located just south of Champaign in Savoy, has one longtime partner in American Airlines.

According to Bannon, nearly 70% of air travelers from Champaign County currently drive to Chicago or Indianapolis.

Bannon said he hopes to reclaim those passengers.

“We have about 270 seats a day outbound right now, so when we’re trying to serve 1,300 people, we just don’t have the seats available and likely the nonstop destinations that people want,” he said.

Bannon said construction is underway on a safety-driven project involving taxiway realignment at the airport.

“We have a midfield taxiway intersection on our airport where we have five taxiways converging into one point of decision. In [Federal Aviation Administration] geometry terms, that’s nonstandard. We want a maximum of three decision points, so when a pilot taxis onto a taxiway they should only have so many decisions they have to pick from. This project will fix that issue,” Bannon explained.

The $10.4 million taxiway realignment is funded by tax dollars from the FAA and the Illinois Department of Transportation.