City Matching Federal Grant for Yakima Airport

The Yakima Airport is about to take off and reach new destinations according to Yakima City Manager Tony O'Rourke.

The Yakima Airport will receive a $290,000 federal grant to boost travel service to Seattle and establish a new flight to Portland.

O’Rourke says the airport is a big economic development generator. But he says flyers need more options.

Only 28 percent of the population in this area are using the airport because of a lack of frequency of flights. We need to increase the frequency of flights to Seattle and other destinations.

O'Rourke says the grant that will be matched by the city and they will now work closely with Alaska Airlines to try and establish a flight to Portland then expanded flights to Seattle. He says the city is hoping to get more people to fly from Yakima so the airport can become more of an economic development generator.