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Fly Butte campaign wants to get another flight to Bert Mooney airport

Posted at 11:12 AM, Jun 20, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-20 13:12:28-04

BUTTE – Economic leaders in Butte say it’s time the Bert Mooney Airport got a second flight.

“And if we could go to Denver it really truly does open up the world, and it opens up those traveling to come to Butte, so it opens up a whole new market,” said Stephanie Sorini of the Butte-Silver Bow Chamber of Commerce.

Economic groups have started the Fly Butte campaign to try to raise up to $200,000 to entice United Airlines to get a flight to Denver out of Butte. The airport only has one Delta Flight to Salt Lake City.

“This is exactly how all the other communities statewide have done it, so if you look at the airports in Bozeman, Missoula, Kalispell, Great Falls, Billings, I mean, this is how they’re growing their airport,” said Joe Willauer of the Butte Local Development Corp.

Maria Pochervina of the Convention and Visitors Bureau added, “What we need to do as a community is we need to put some funds together so we can have a revenue guarantee so that we can then seriously look into bringing in an additional flight.”

Officials say the sooner this community can raise the money, the sooner this airport can get another flight to fly passengers in and out of Butte.

“So it really just comes down to how fast the money can get raised. If it goes quickly, it can be as early as next summer,” said Willauer.

A public meeting will be held at the airport on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. to discuss fundraising for the airport.

-John Emeigh reporting for MTN News