Airport leaders excited about turnaround cruising and additional passengers
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The city of Duluth will be welcoming cruise ships again in a couple of months.
And this season, there will be four turnaround cruises, which means people will start or end their voyage here.
That means more passengers flying into the Duluth International Airport. And Delta and United are making adjustments to make sure they can get here.
Tom Werner, the Executive Director of the airport, said, “Each airline has responded in a different way. We’re still under a nationwide pilot shortage, and it is really constraining the airline’s ability to grow. But when we have a tremendous opportunity like this and the data to support it, which we do in this case, they respond with additional frequencies.”
United will be adding a third frequency for the summer, he said. And Delta is using larger aircraft. This is just during the turnaround times. But as cruising grows, so will this service.
(WDIO)
“The opportunity for the community is is a good one, because you’ll have people here that maybe have never flown into Duluth before. We want them to come back. You know, not only is it a tremendous opportunity for that, for them to have a good vacation this time, but those return visits are equally as important. So we hope that they’ll get a taste of what we’re all about and they’ll come back,” Werner told us.
The excursion companies will be meeting people at the airport, to take care of luggage and provide transportation to the hotels.
Here’s the 2023 Cruise Schedule:
May 30, 2023: Viking Octantis — DECC Docking
June 4, 2023: Hanseatic Inspiration — Port Terminal
June 9, 2023: Ocean Navigator — Port Terminal
June 13, 2023: Viking Octantis — DECC Docking
June 23, 2023: Ocean Navigator — Port Terminal
June 24, 2023: Viking Polaris — DECC Docking (Turnaround cruise)
June 27, 2023: Hanseatic Inspiration — Port Terminal
July 11, 2023: Viking Octantis — DECC Docking
July 22, 2023: Viking Polaris — DECC Docking (Turnaround cruise)
August 18, 2023: Viking Octantis — DECC Docking (Turnaround cruise)
September 12, 2023: Viking Polaris — DECC Docking (Turnaround cruise)