COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Colorado Springs (COS) Airport is going international. The first flight to Cancún, Mexico will depart on June 7.
WATCH: Growing service while maintaining convenience at the Colorado Springs Airport
It will be a seasonal non-stop flight on Southwest Airlines that will operate every Saturday. With the new international travel comes a 16,000 square foot federal inspection station facility.
Covering Colorado
New international terminal taking shape at the Colorado Springs Airport
The facility is designed to streamline U.S. Customs and Border Protection screening of incoming passengers. The total cost of the facility is estimated at $8.4 million, but no local taxpayers dollars were used to build it.
Officials from the airport hope this addition will help bring more travelers through Colorado Springs.
"Currently, we have one single flight on each Saturday, that's the scheduled flight with Southwest Airlines," Acting Director of Aviation at the COS Airport Alex Kovacs said. "The goal is, obviously, to grow this facility. It has a capacity of 200 people per hour. Our goal is obviously to add more flights as soon as possible, and we have a dedicated team working on that."
The new direct flight is scheduled to run through the summer and return in the fall for flights in November and December.