{"id":230267,"date":"2026-04-13T20:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T20:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/230267\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T20:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T20:53:08","slug":"leaders-say-expanded-macon-flights-could-boost-travel-tourism-41nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/230267\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaders say expanded Macon flights could boost travel, tourism &#8211; 41NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOfficials say the added routes could make travel easier for residents and bring more visitors to the area.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"770\" height=\"433\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/thumbnail-1024x576.png\" class=\"wp-image-1918420 attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"Thumbnail\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>MACON, Georgia (41NBC\/WMGT) \u2013<a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.41nbc.com\/contour-airlines-macon-baltimore-fort-lauderdale-flights\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> More travel options are coming to Middle Georgia<\/a> this summer as Contour Airlines expands service at Middle Georgia Regional Airport.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"134\" data-end=\"311\">The airline is adding a returning nonstop flight to Baltimore along with a new destination to Fort Lauderdale, giving travelers more choices for both business and leisure trips.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"313\" data-end=\"437\">Macon-Bibb County Mayor Lester Miller says he is excited about the opportunities this expansion will bring to the community.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"439\" data-end=\"602\">\u201cWe\u2019re going back to BWI in Baltimore, but also more importantly we\u2019re going to Fort Lauderdale which has a lot of people and a lot of buzz going on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"604\" data-end=\"842\">According to Marissa Rodgers, vice president and chief marketing officer for Visit Macon, the return to Baltimore comes after strong demand, while the Fort Lauderdale route opens the door to beaches, cruises and new travel opportunities.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"844\" data-end=\"1063\">\u201cWe are very excited,\u201d she said. \u201cWe received a lot of positive feedback about the return to Baltimore, but Fort Lauderdale means an increased chance to get in front of a new audience and bring in more opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1065\" data-end=\"1189\">Rodgers says the convenience of flying out of Macon instead of driving to Atlanta could make a big difference for travelers.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1191\" data-end=\"1400\">\u201cThe amount of time just to travel, especially for locals, or visitors that are coming in to not have to do that drive to Atlanta is really enticing, plus the flights are very reasonably priced,\u201d Rodgers said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1402\" data-end=\"1525\">Mayor Miller says the expansion could also help bring more visitors into the area, benefiting local businesses and tourism.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1527\" data-end=\"1775\">\u201cIf we can have them stop off in Middle Georgia, perhaps visit some of the things that we have here, stay in hotels here, spend money here, and also go directly to a flight to Fort Lauderdale, I think that means a lot to our community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1777\" data-end=\"1885\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">With flights running multiple times a week, leaders expect strong interest from both residents and visitors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Officials say the added routes could make travel easier for residents and bring more visitors to the area.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[101813,101644,249,54669,251,250,101814,102366,103246,103247,103248,101817,103249],"class_list":["post-230267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-baltimore-flights","tag-contour-airlines","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-flights","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-georgia-travel","tag-lester-miller","tag-macon-airport","tag-macon-flights","tag-macon-travel","tag-middle-georgia-regional-airport","tag-visit-macon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}