SOUTH BEND — On the heels of a recent announcement that South Bend International Airport is adding two new domestic routes, work continues to add a direct international flight and international air freight shipping.
Airport executive director Mike Daigle said there isn’t a set timetable for when either of the two goals could be reached. In 2014, the airport announced plans for international service, and construction on a new customs facility began in 2015. Most of the funding for the facility came from $7.9 million in grant money from the Federal Aviation Administration and $436,580 from the Indiana Department of Transportation. The facility was completed last year, designed to serve three distinct functions.
The customs facility’s general aviation section already has been handling arrivals of private and corporate aircraft from international locations.
In the five months since its opening, Daigle said the facility has handled 47 international arrivals.
“We’ve had flights from Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, France, to name a few,” Daigle said. And the facility can handle “substantially” more traffic than that.
Daigle said that attracting an international commercial flight is a complex process that’s still a few steps away from the negotiating table with airlines or travel agencies.
“It’s something we work on almost every single day,” Daigle said. “I don’t have a timeline for you at this point, there are many moving parts to this and many partners.”
In the past, Daigle mentioned Cancun, Mexico, the Bahamas, Toronto and Ireland as possible routes for direct commercial flights.