PADUCAH - Officials at Barkley Regional Airport say Skywest Airlines will soon bring back a second flight each day to Chicago, and that construction of a planned new terminal may begin this fall.

Airport Executive Director Dennis Rouleau says Skywest plans to begin offering two flights per day beginning July 5. In May, the airline reduced flights to Chicago to one per day because of reduced traffic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Rouleau said, "Now we're starting to come back with some passengers. With passengers comes people parking, renting cars, using the vending machines. All those other things start to come back. Our revenues have dropped off significantly, and now we're starting to see an uptick."

Rouleau said the airport also plans to begin the process of hiring someone to fill a firefighter position soon.

As far as the new terminal, Rouleau says the airport is working to secure bids and funding to begin work on the site south of the current building.

"We are moving quickly to have the bids in hand and make a proposal to the federal government. We are having a contractors outreach meeting set up for July 1 at the Convention Center. I would go to our Facebook page to see the actual invite to that. Any contractors who would like to participate in this project, I would encourage them to attend."

On the Net:

Barkley Airport Gets $5 Million For New Terminal
Airport Board Approves Contracts for New Terminal