From: http://www.post-trib.com/business/198279,skyvalue.article SkyValue goes year-round from Gary airport January 5, 2007 BY JIM STINSON Post-Tribune SkyValue USA has decided to fly from Gary/Chicago International Airport year-round, based on strong reservation numbers. The announcement was made late Thursday by executives from C First Class Corp., the parent company based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The airline originally was scheduled to fly out of Gary only through April. "We asked the community to step up and show us their support for SkyValue and Gary/Chicago International Airport as the alternative to crowded Midway and O'Hare, and they have, by flying with us," said Darrell Richardson, chief executive officer of SkyValue. "Additional routes will be announced shortly. We are 100 percent committed to this community and growing Gary/Chicago airport as our hub of operations." The news was music to the ears of airport director Chris Curry, who has been trying to retain SkyValue and attract new commercial passenger service. "They've realized this is a viable market," Curry said. "Load factors are extremely high." Curry said the Gary-to-Mesa, Ariz., flight on Dec. 29 was sold out, with 174 flyers. The entire week after Christmas, SkyValue had about 80 percent of passenger seats filled leaving Gary, he said. Flights coming back to Gary will show strength next week as people return, Curry said. SkyValue had some bumps in late December, after its Dec. 15 debut, when it cancelled future flights to Fort Lauderdale, which it said did not emerge as a strong market. But Richardson said Mesa-Phoenix was a surprise hit, followed by Las Vegas, Orlando, Fla., and St. Petersburg, Fla. Gateway Williams Airport in Mesa is being heavily pushed as an alternative to the Phoenix airport. Mesa is home of winter-training for the Chicago Cubs, and initially attracted numerous flyers to the Gary-Chicago region from the Phoenix metropolitan area. Richardson also floated the idea of adding a Los Angeles airport to its destinations. The flight would leave from Gary, stop in Mesa, and land again in the Los Angeles area. Richardson and Curry both said Los Angeles is a destination mentioned in Northwest Indiana marketing surveys as a Top 10 request for the Gary airport. SkyValue charters its Boeing 747-800 jets from Xtra Airways of Elko, Nev. Flights begin at a cost of $79 per one way, with the cost increasing as the plane fills. Contact Jim Stinson at 648-3076 or jstinson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx