First flight from SHD to Charlotte departed Tuesday morning – WHSV

WEYERS CAVE, Va. (WHSV) – The Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD) has flights available through a new carrier.

Contour is now providing flights to Charlotte, and their first flight out of Augusta County took off Tuesday, Nov. 1. The flight is about an hour and a half long.

While Contour may not be familiar to Valley travelers, their partnerships provide connections around the world.

“Contour Airlines has an airline agreement with American Airlines, which means you can book your travel all on one ticket from Shenandoah on Contour, and connect it with an American flight. Your baggage will be transferred seamlessly,” said Marketing and Communications Manager with SHD, Heather Ream.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) has 114 gates and served more than 43 million passengers in 2020.

“Charlotte is a great hub for our community because there are over 600 connecting opportunities a day,” said Ream.

SHD made the change after Skywest announced in March they were discontinuing service. SHD’s last day with Skywest was Oct. 30. When bids opened on SHD, four airlines answered the call.

The airport commission chose Contour for many reasons.

“They had the great connecting opportunities in Charlotte through their agreement with American, and they just have a wonderful reputation in the markets they already serve for on-time reliability, for customer service,” said Ream.

Even for those who like to keep their feet on the ground, airport staff and commissioners said this is a good move for the Valley.

“It helps us with our economic development efforts in the region, it helps us with tourism, bringing folks to the valley, and it helps us with talent attraction with our companies and universities in the area,” said Maggie Ragon, Staunton Representative for the SHD Airport Commission.

To book tickets, you can check out one of the following websites: Contour, American Airlines, SHD.

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