Forget the six-hour drive to the Panhandle.
A new airport opening near Panama City Beach next month will create an air-travel corridor between Northwest and Central Florida that could draw tourists and businesses alike.
As its name suggests, Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport ? just north of Panama City Beach, near Vicksburg ? is close to the Panhandle's sugar-white beaches. But officials there think it will open up opportunities not only for leisure travelers but for businesses, as well.
Business travelers now are generally routed through Atlanta on their way to and from Orlando. Tickets on
Delta Air Lines, the only carrier serving Panama City's existing airport, can cost $800 or more for the trip.
But the new airport will bring with it a bigger runway ? and a low-cost competitor for Delta.
Southwest Airlines plans to offer at least eight daily nonstop departures from Beaches International to four cities, including Orlando.
That could be good news for Central Florida companies that regularly do business in Northwest Florida, including this region's training-simulation industry. The new airport is near major military installations, including Tyndall Air Force Base and the Naval Surface Warfare Center.
"Wherever you see a major air base, ? there are simulation capabilities there and there are companies that are there to support them," said Tom Baptiste, president and executive director of the National Center for Simulation in Orlando. "I think it sounds like goodness to me to have more access to the Panhandle."
For instance, Lockheed Martin, which has operations in Central Florida, also has employees in the Panama City area. A spokeswoman for the company's Missiles & Fire Control unit in south Orlando said it was "too soon to tell" if the new airport would affect the company's travel plans.
But there's no arguing that Beaches International will be a cheap alternative: Southwest is offering fares from Orlando as low as $49 one way. It's a refreshing change for a destination that admits is has had some of the highest airfares in the state.
"With Southwest and the [bigger,] mainstream Delta jets coming on, we've seen a decrease [in fares] on competitive routes," said Dan Rowe, chief executive officer of the Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Gary Walsingham, who owns the Ripley's Believe It or Not! in Panama City Beach, says he plans to use the new route. He travels to Orlando about twice a month to visit Ripley's corporate headquarters and to attend trade shows at the
Orange County Convention Center.
He once flew nonstop on Delta's regional jets, but the Atlanta-based airline eliminated that service as it focused more on long-haul flights.
"After they stopped that service, I had to get on a plane and go from here to Atlanta, and Atlanta to Orlando," he said. "It was just aggravating ? beside the expense."
The new flights make Orlando a more-accessible leisure destination for visitors from the Panhandle ? a market with plenty of room for growth: In 2008, only about 48,500 visitors to Orlando came from Panama City, representing just 0.2 percent of all in-state visitation.
"It'll certainly make it easier," said Danielle Courtenay, a spokeswoman for the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
As for Panama City, its visitors' bureau is hoping it can lure more European travelers who fly to Orlando for the theme parks but also want to spend time on Florida's beaches.
After this year's Pow Wow international travel-trade show wraps up in Orlando in late May, Panama City plans to fly 25 travel writers and tour operators to Northwest Florida, hoping to sell them on the area's sugar-white sands and emerald waters.
Ads appearing in the Orlando area also target locals who might want a relaxing ? but thanks to the new air service, quick and inexpensive ? getaway.
"We kind of consider it a game changer here," said Tracy Louthain, director of communications for the Beaches of South Walton. "To have a direct flight into Orlando is just going to open the entire state ... to the beautiful beaches up here."
