The airport received a $2 million state grant to prepare for the airline.

LAKELAND Signs for check-in, baggage claim and security checkpoint signal that Lakeland Linder Regional Airport is transforming into a full-fledged, passenger-ready facility.

With just days to go until the airport welcomes DirectAir, construction crews are putting the finishing touches on things like the baggage carousel, check-in counters and snack bar.

“We started the renovations on Valentine’s Day,” airport director Gene Conrad said.

He said the changes are all part of a $2 million expansion grant from the Florida Department of Transportation in anticipation of DirectAir’s arrival in Lakeland.

DirectAir is a South Carolina-based carrier that plans to operate Boeing 737 aircraft out of Lakeland with service to and from cities like San Juan, Puerto Rico; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Hagerstown, Md.; Springfield, Ill.; and Niagara Falls and Plattsburgh N.Y.

“I get a lot of questions, why Plattsburgh why Niagara Falls,” Conrad said. “Toronto and Montreal are just north of those two cities and all the Canadians want to flock across the border because they have to pay a tax to fly from Canada into the United States, so they drive across the border and then fly from an airport in the United States.”

DirectAir officials say the response to their plans to operate in Lakeland has been remarkable.

Judy Tull, chief executive officer of DirectAir, said the company has booked more than 14,000 roundtrip flights to Lakeland.

“In the last week the strongest bookings, of all our cities companywide, have been in and out of Lakeland,” Tull said from her office in Myrtle Beach.

She credits Lakeland’s central location in the state and proximity to theme parks and attractions in both Tampa and Orlando.

Conrad agrees.

“We’re geographically, we’re in the center of it all, and Polk County, with Legoland coming on board, all the great things you can do in Polk County and then Busch Gardens, Disney, the beaches in Tampa/St. Pete, I mean it’s a win win for everybody,” he said.

DirectAir will launch its first flights from Lakeland on June 23.

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