American Airlines tickets now on sale for Naples to Charlotte flights

NAPLES, Fla. (WINK)—For the first time in nearly a decade, commercial flight tickets are up for sale at the Naples Airport.

This week, the airport announced American Airlines has started selling tickets for the proposed service from Naples to Charlotte, North Carolina. The flights are planned to start on December 2.

American Airlines is planning to offer daily service at the Naples Airport for the first time since 2001, marking the airport's first commercial flights in almost a decade. Before this plan can truly take off, the airport and airline need to finalize a use agreement, get TSA approval, and carry out facility upgrades.

Naples resident Tom Cullen welcomes the change.

"Naples is such a growing area, for as long as I've been here, something like this is kind of expected," Cullen said.

Naples mom, Noelia Halavacs Baccaro, sees the tickets as convenient and cost-effective for her family's international flights.

"We're from Argentina, we have to go to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, or Miami with the kids, a two-hour drive, plus the cost of the parking," Halavacs Baccaro said. "Now, if we have a stop that we can go to Charlotte, it's so easy."

Not all flyers have made up their mind yet. Naples resident Trower Boyd said he's mixed about the new service.

"I'm mixed, I don't know yet, because of the fact that it only takes you to Charlotte, I would say I'm more against it than for it," Boyd said.

The airline is proposing three daily flights that will take off and land before the airport's curfew hours. Cullen said he doesn't expect the noise to be a major issue.

"I think it's great for Naples, those planes really aren't much louder than this," Cullen said.

American Airlines says Charlotte can connect travelers to 180 destinations worldwide, but Katie Turner calls it home. Turner said she's excited about the new flight option to visit her family in Naples.

"I am really excited, actually, to hear that there's airline service starting up to Naples, because I go down there and visit my parents and my family," Turner said.

WINK News reporter Maddie Herron hopped on a call with Turner outside Naples Airport, where she plans to explore her future flight options. However, Turner said her parents live in the flight path and are concerned about increased noise.

"There's a lot of excitement about this helping to ease travel, but my parents are also in the flight path, so they have to handle all the noise, and this is just going to make it worse," Turner said.

Turner said she's staying cautiously optimistic about future flights.

"I think this is going to be an exciting change," Turner said. "We'll see if the ink actually dries on the contract."

The Naples Airport Authority says negotiations are moving along, and an update is expected next month.