I suspect many of you living in the Phoenix Valley are aware of the impending flights to/from Mesa's Williams Gateway Airport, but many of those living out of our wonderful state may not know that very soon more opportunities to fly in/out of the East Valley will be available.

As one who is living and loving the East Valley - Mesa, I am excited about the prospect of having an airport just 10-15 minutes from my home that doesn't charge for parking, that doesn't have long lines, and that is a smaller more user friendly place from which to fly. The East Valley/Scottsdale Tribune reported on Thursday, April 19, that flights/air routes to southern California, and to the midwest should be onboard by the fall. Vision Airlines may be booking flights from Scottsdale to North Las Vegas by June. According to the report, Vision wants to make Mesa airport a hub, adding several new routes and will be meeting with Williams Gateway officials next week to find out where the community wants to go. Some choices may include: Laughlin, Nevada and southern California (possibly Carlsbad).

Top vote getters are: Las Vegas, San Diego, Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago. SkyValue who has been shuttling passengers between Mesa and Gary, Indiana since December, announced in January plans to expand to the Los Angeles area. I vote for Burbank or for Long Beach because they are smaller airports. To read the entire report, check out:

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/88092

Bottom line: Looks like we're getting more options for travel for those of us living in the Mesa, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Gold Canyon areas. Progress is good.