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Purdue University has announced the return of commercial flights to the University airport. (Photo courtesy of Purdue University)
Purdue University/Rebecca WilcoxPurdue University officials announced the school’s airport will begin hosting commercial flights starting in April 2024.
During the Board of Trustees meeting Friday, Purdue President Mung Chiang announced that a partnership with Southern Airways will launch daily flights between West Lafayette and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
Purdue leadership and regional officials have long discussed the need to bring commercial flights back to the area to sustain and support economic growth.
Earlier this year, the university announced it would build a new terminal at the airport in the hopes of attracting commercial flights.The $11.8 million dollar project is funded through federal grants and the state’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative, or READI, grant funding.
Construction on the terminal will begin in May of next year and is expected to be completed in 2025. The university also plans to rehabilitate the existing airport runway.
The terminal will be named after Amelia Earhart, with the approval of the Earhart estate.
The last time commercial flights were available out of the Purdue airport was in 2004.
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