Passengers celebrate new non-stop option to Nashville at Shreveport Regional

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)— A new non-stop option flying out of Shreveport Regional Airport launched its inaugural flight on Thursday morning.

Passengers boarded Allegiant Air’s first flight to Nashville International Airport around 10:45 a.m..

“It’s awesome. We are ready to go man,” said Trey Hicks, who was heading to Nashville with a group of friends for a bachelor party. “A couple of days off work. Going to get away for a little bit.”

The non-stop flight has been added to Allegiant’s ‘Seasonal Route’ which runs through mid-August. Three Florida destinations, Daytona, Destin and Sanford have been offered by Allegiant Air as seasonal stops for years.

Kayla Russell was on the plane coming in from Nashville landing at Shreveport Regional and did not realize the return flight was the inaugural outbound trip. She says she is thrilled to have the new non-stop option.

“I just think the more people that bring this in the better for Shreveport. The better for people around Nashville. As well as the surrounding areas around Nashville. It’s really nice to have a non-stop flight. It’s so good,” she said.

Larry Blackwell, the Shreveport Airport Authority director, says he was pleased to see the flight nearly full on day one.

“What we’re hoping to show the airlines is that there is a great enough demand here in Shreveport to fly this route year round and into the future. It’s a great start when you have the first inaugural flight that’s almost full,” said Blackwell. “We’ve been hearing from the public for years that Nashville was one of the destinations that people want. The connections in Shreveport between entertainment, medical and music have been huge.”

Another benefits of the flight, according to Blackwell, is bringing people from Nashville into Shreveport.

“We are currently advertising in Nashville to come down and visit our region and get to know what we have to offer,” he said. “We’re really excited about that.”

The flight runs on Thursdays and Sundays.

It lasts a little over an hour and select flights cost as little as $39 one way.