Non-stop flight from MAF to Austin kicks off March 10

Exciting news for travelers! Starting March 10, MAF will have direct flights to and from Austin.

There will be a daily Southwest flight that leaves Midland at 6:30 a.m. and takes you to Austin at 7:30. The return flight from Austin departs at 7:50pm and returns you at 8:55.

Melissa, who lives in Midland, said: “I think it’s great.

“A lot of people go to Austin, so that’s going to work in their favor,” said Midlander Elaine.

Tickets on Southwest’s website starting at $59 each way.

“Great way to go and cut that driving time,” said Justine Ruff, director of airports at MAF. “It’s been a long process to get there, somewhat politically, not really by us, but we’re glad it happened.”

Currently, direct flights from Midland include Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Denver. So we asked you, what other destinations would you like to see?

Melissa said: “Corpus Christi will be my number one. “A lot of people from the Rio Grande Valley come to work.”

“Definitely a flight back home, rather than connecting from Houston or Dallas,” said Che, who lives in Midland but is originally from Trinidad.

Jennifer, who lives in Midland, says: “A direct flight to Albuquerque would be great.

We asked MAF if more nonstop flights from our local airport were operating. Ruff says now, no.

“It’s not easy to get to a new destination by any means,” says Ruff. “Airlines pretty much decide, they consider the amount of traffic they get to Austin via Dallas right now. If enough people go, they will go non-stop if they have a route available. ”

You may remember that there used to be a direct flight from Austin years ago, but it stopped in 2009.

“They are no longer profitable,” says Ruff. “And the same thing will happen. So it’s important that people use this flight.”