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LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — Lakeland City Commissioners are going to take a vote on an agreement to bring in commercial flights on Monday morning.
Visiting your loved ones next holiday season could be easier.
The future of air travel is looking bright for the thousands of Polk County residents who have to make a trip just to go on a trip.
The Lakeland City Commission is expected to vote in favor of the deal with Avelo Airlines.
For years, it’s been a battle to bring in commercial flights to Lakeland Linder International Airport.
Monday’s city commission meeting could put a promising end to the decade-long hiatus.
“Our growth is different now. The number of people that live here is different now,” Lakeland Mayor Bill Mutz said. “The need for airlines to have more affordable and flexible departure cities is different and growth of mid-size airlines is different.”
Avelo Airlines, an ultra-low-cost carrier, has proposed an agreement with the City of Lakeland to bring its passenger planes to the area.
It’s an airline that travels to 44 destinations, including Chicago, Las Vegas and several cities within Florida.
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Lakeland Linder would need nearly $3.5 million in renovations to pave the way.
Security is the main priority.
“We hope to have two screening lanes to process passengers quickly, but right now this is just a square box,” Adam Lunn, Assistant Airport Director, said about an area at the airport.
Parking and ramp infrastructure would also need some work.
Airport officials said they could get it all done by next summer and have the Avelo Airlines passenger planes flying in and out of Lakeland Linder by then too.
Avelo Airlines has 16 passenger planes and is fairly new.
We don’t know yet where all the planes would fly out of this airport, but the mayor said there would be more options as time went on.
The sky is the limit.
