Columbia Regional Airport to add Florida flights with Allegiant Airlines
Jazsmin Halliburton
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia Regional Airport will be adding new flights to and from Florida with Allegiant Airlines.
According to Allegiant Airlines’ website, Columbia will be one of the airline’s new destinations starting in June 2026. It will have two destinations in Florida, to and from Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport and Orlando Sanford International Airport.
This announcement comes after a record number of passengers for COU, according to a press release. Total passenger traffic exceeded 28,000, with arrivals and departures combined.
Mayor Barbara Buffaloe said that when people are not flying out of COU, they are losing people who would rather drive to the St. Louis Airport to get to vacation destinations like Florida.
“We know people are driving to Saint Louis to fly to Florida with the I-70 construction,” said Buffaloe. “I very much expect that we’ll see more people using COU because no one wants to drive down I-70 during those shoots. They would much rather be home safer.”
Vice President of Revenue and Planning for Allegiant Airlines Kristen Schilling-Gonzales, tells ABC 17 News that the airlines and COU have been trying for more than a decade to get this deal done in Columbia. “The fine folks of central Missouri are looking for nonstop flights for favorite leisure vacation destinations,” said Schilling-Gonzales. “And honestly, one of the more recent changes has been I’ve heard a lot about construction on I-70, making it a little more difficult”
The expansion of the airport parking lot continues with the west lot across from Airport Drive, which is expected to be finished by the start of December, and design for the north lot has begun. Airport Manager Mike Parks said that the airport restaurant will be finished around the time Allegiant starts its flight.
Travelers will have the opportunity to access the restaurant on both the public side and the secure side of the airport. “If you are flying out, you’re already past security, you could order a hamburger or a chicken sandwich or whatever that might be needed on the secure side,” said Parks. “But you could also have things on the public side. And I think this timing works out really, really well.”
In September, United Airlines returned to COU after four years with two daily flights to Chicago O’Hare and Denver. United plans to have three daily flights to Chicago O’Hare in December.