Blue Grass Airport Now Offers Non-Stop Service on Delta Air Lines Between Lexington, KY and Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

LEXINGTON, Ky., July 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Grass Airport announced today that Delta Air Lines will offer new non-stop service between Lexington, Kentucky and Minneapolis/St. Paul.  Two daily flights will be offered beginning September 7, 2010.  

“Today’s announcement of Delta’s new Minneapolis service is a welcome addition to our already strong Delta flight schedule,” said Brian Ellestad, deputy director of air service and community relations at Blue Grass Airport.  “Our customers will now have access to another Delta hub, which will provide a convenient connection point when traveling to cities throughout the western United States, Canada and internationally."

The new service to Minneapolis/St. Paul will be operated by Delta Connection carrier Pinnacle Airlines with Canadair Regional Jets, which seat up to 50 passengers.

These new flights will complement existing Delta Air Lines service between Lexington and Delta’s hub cities of Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit and Memphis.  Delta also offers non-stop service between Lexington and New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport.

Customers traveling between Lexington and Minneapolis/St. Paul will find convenient connections to hundreds of destinations. Delta currently operates more than 500 daily departures from its hub at Minneapolis/St. Paul to 136 destinations worldwide, including non-stop flights to 14 international destinations.

Tickets for the new Minneapolis/St. Paul flights will be on sale beginning Sunday, July 11, 2010 and can be purchased online at www.delta.com, by calling Delta Air Lines at 800.221.1212 or by contacting your local travel agent.

“Delta appreciates our customers in Lexington who continue to support our service and have enabled us to add Minneapolis/St. Paul as a new option for connections across our global network,” said Joe Esposito, Delta’s managing director – Domestic Network Planning.

Delta also has informed Blue Grass Airport that it plans to add more than 3,500 seats to the Lexington market between Sept. 25 and Oct. 10 to support increased travel expected during the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Delta will increase capacity and frequencies during the three weeks of the competition by replacing 50-seat regional jet flights between Lexington and its Atlanta and Detroit hubs with larger MD-88 and DC-9 aircraft.  In total, 28 regularly scheduled 50-seat regional jet flights to Lexington will be upgauged – 17 to 142-seat MD-88s and 11 to 125-seat DC-9s.

Additionally, Delta will temporarily expand its non-stop service between Lexington and New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport to daily from six-times weekly.

“We’re so pleased that Delta and Blue Grass Airport have acknowledged the world-wide importance of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games coming to Lexington,” said World Games 2010 Foundation CEO Jamie Link.  “These additional flights and increased capacities will provide great service for our spectators.”

A portion of travel for some itineraries may be on Delta Connection carriers Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Chautauqua, Comair, Compass Airlines, Freedom Airlines, Mesaba, Pinnacle Airlines, Shuttle America and SkyWest.

About Blue Grass Airport

Blue Grass Airport, the Official Airport of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, is served by seven major airlines providing convenient non-stop service to 14 major hub cities and connecting service to hundreds of destinations worldwide.

About Delta Air Lines in Kentucky

Delta is Kentucky’s largest airline with more than 2,800 weekly round-trip flights departing three state airports – Cincinnati, Lexington and Louisville.  From Lexington, Delta offers 24 peak-day departures with its summer 2010 schedule – nine to Atlanta, four to Cincinnati, one to Washington-Reagan National, six to Detroit, and one to New York-LaGuardia and three to Memphis.    

SOURCE Blue Grass Airport