The luncheon hosts -- the regional airport, Cape Air and Lambert-St

"To sum it up, they think it is affordable at a flat rate of $49.97 each way, & convenient -- to book for connections in St. Louis, for baggage arrangements, checked all the way through to your final destinations, & for the shuttle, which lets you go through security only one time in Owensboro," said Cape Air's Stacey Putnam Ross, Midwest promotion manager.

The companies received a round trip Cape Air to St. Louis ticket.


The regional airport has a four-year contract with Cape Air to provide Essential Air Service back and forth from Owensboro and St. Louis. That service, which is federally subsidized, targets the business traveler, said Bob Whitmer, manager of the Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport.

Cape Air has been providing every day nonstop air service to St. Louis since December 2011. The provider has charted a 57 percent increase in passengers since May -- from 379 in its inaugural month to 595 in May. And the June number is expected to be 661. Those numbers represent the sum of both directions.

"We've had Allegiant, which is lovely and primarily for the leisure traveler, but they needed someone else for the business traveler," they said.

The luncheon hosts -- the regional airport, Cape Air and Lambert-St. Louis International Airport -- worked with the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce to identify companies whose executives fly often.

The flight time from Owensboro to St. Louis is over hour. Driving to the regional airports takes from hours to three.75 hours depending on the location.

Ross compared Cape Air's round trip ticket cost of $99.94 to the cost of driving to other regional airports using the standard mileage rate for business miles driven. The round trip drive to Louisville is estimated at $196.47; Nashville, $156.51; and St. Louis, $244.20.

that international airport has 60 destinations, said Brian Kinsey, assistant director of promotion and business development in highlighting benefits of flying out of St. Louis.

Dechman said Cape Air may be able to help his company since employees travel back and forth to see customers in the Kansas area.

"The presentation they gave today opened my eyes to the service they have, and I'll return and talk to my company about using it," said Mike Dechman, materials and business travel specialist for Southern Star.