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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Were 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. <\/p>\n
The twice-daily service from Houston is flown on a 50-seat Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft through ExpressJet, one of Uniteds regional express branches. The first flight was welcomed to ECP with a water salute from the airports fire department, a gesture of good luck. <\/p>\n
Were very enthusiastic about the bookings weve seen, said Robert Klos, senior manager for United Express Performance. There has been very heavy inbound flight (bookings), especially for a new route. <\/p>\n
As one of Uniteds 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. <\/p>\n
Whats great is, as one of our major hubs, its an international gateway for us, Klos said. It opens up so many markets that United services. <\/p>\n
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 Thursdays outbound flight carrying about 30 passengers. <\/p>\n
Michele Kiker and her husband, Jake, drove to ECP from Tallahassee for the flight, which had a lower fare than from Tallahassee Regional Airport. <\/p>\n
I try to shop flights a bit. ... The flight was a little bit less expensive, Kiker said. Weve never been to this airport before, so we wanted to check it out. <\/p>\n
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United lands at Beaches airport<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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. Were here for warm weather, said Moll, who traveled with Van Etten from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Continue reading