WEST BAY — When best friends Angie Moll and April Van Etten arrived at Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP) on Thursday afternoon, they were taken aback by the welcome they received.
The friends were two of about 40 passengers on the first United Airlines flight from George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston, each of which was greeted by a crowd distributing welcome bags and taking pictures as they arrived at ECP.
“We’re here for warm weather,” said Moll, who traveled with Van Etten from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “We heard (Panama City Beach) had one of the most beautiful beaches.”
The twice-daily service from Houston is flown on a 50-seat Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft through ExpressJet, one of United’s regional express branches. The first flight was welcomed to ECP with a “water salute” from the airport’s fire department, a gesture of good luck.
“We’re very enthusiastic about the bookings we’ve seen,” said Robert Klos, senior manager for United Express Performance. There has been “very heavy inbound flight (bookings), especially for a new route.”
As one of United’s major U.S. hubs, service to IAH opens up connection to 176 domestic and international destinations for the airport in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
“What’s great is, as one of our major hubs, it’s an international gateway for us,” Klos said. “It opens up so many markets that United services.”
Klos said because ECP is a seasonal and tourism-driven airport, officials expected flights to be more full on the way in than on the way out, with Thursday’s outbound flight carrying about 30 passengers.
Michele Kiker and her husband, Jake, drove to ECP from Tallahassee for the flight, which had a lower fare than from Tallahassee Regional Airport.
“I try to shop flights a bit. ... The flight was a little bit less expensive,” Kiker said. “We’ve never been to this airport before, so we wanted to check it out.”
After arriving in Houston, the couple was headed to Austin for a trip to check out the scene the week before the popular music, film and interactive festival South by Southwest.
Before boarding their flight, Kiker said she was impressed with the airport’s many staff members, who helped them breeze through ticketing and security, as well as the covered parking lot, which shielded Thursday’s rain.
“Everything has been fluid so far,” she said.
Richard Long, vice president of marketing for the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, said agency officials recently spent a week in Texas to build the hype about the new Houston flight, as well as a new Southwest Airlines flight to Dallas, which begins Saturday.
“The combination of those things, we think, will be a great opportunity,” said Long, who helped hand out Panama City Beach visitor guides to exiting passengers. “We want to make sure we celebrate the arrival of these folks from Houston. We think United will open up some additional markets, not just in Houston, but beyond Houston.”
