ST. GEORGE – This Wednesday morning a Delta Airlines charter Boeing 757-200, one of the largest commercial passenger planes in existence, will grace the runways of St. George Municipal Airport.
The Boeing 757 will be the largest charter-flight to land in St. George since the facility first opened in Jan., 2011; however, the municipal airport has seen large military-class aircraft land, most recently in May when the Marine Corps 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit held training exercises in St. George.
The new, expanded airport has been bringing more people into the city.
“Since we’ve opened up, our charter business has picked up 40 percent,” said Brad Kitchen, lead operations supervisor at St. George Municipal Airport. “The airport continues to grow.”
At the old airport, it would not have been possible to host large charter flights, Kitchen said.
A busy airport is good for business here in St. George.
“When an aircraft lands with 250 people,” Kitchen said, “that’s a huge shot to the economy with the money they spend out in the community in restaurants and hotels. That’s potentially 250 (hotel) rooms they are renting out here.”
The flight was chartered by Stampin’ Up!, a Kanab-based scrapbooking and crafts vendor. Stampin’ Up! is flying in over 200 of its top demonstrators from around the world to see the area and tour their manufacturing facilities in Kanab.
If you like airplanes and you’d like to see the 757 land, it is scheduled to arrive Wednesday morning at 9:20 a.m., at the Saint George Municipal Airport, located at 4550 S. Airport Pkwy in St George.
St. George News Editor-in-Chief Joyce Kuzmanic contributed to this report.
Updated July 24, 2013: Featured image replaces first published which was flipped for perspective, displaying the logo in the negative.
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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2013, all rights reserved.
Couldn’t help but notice that the lettering on the plane shows DELTA spelled backward.
So, the first ever arrival of a 757-200 at SGU will be for a craft fair in Kanab………… Somebody pinch me!
forget about the craft fair – push sales of land around the airport for retirement homes for these people.
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that’s why the airport was built, wasn’t it?
its not spelled backwards ifmyour inside the plane
so did anyone get photo of this big bird landing in stg, I had to be in cedar city today and would have like to seen it land
We did, Rob – we’ve all just been hopping today, but it’s coming. Watch for it?
Joyce
EIC
Not sure how much of a boost for Dixie, since Kanab is in Kane county! Story lacks information how this affects Dixie except for the plane landing here!!!