As the number of travelers continues to pick-up, flyers will have new destinations to go to out of Joplin’s Regional Airport. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

Starting on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, flyers out of Joplin will be able to fly directly to Houston, Texas, making the destination the third hub city that travelers in the Four States will be able to fly to, including Denver and Chicago that were announced earlier this month. The flights will be operated by SkyWest, a regional airline operated by United Airlines.

The change also means that you’ll no longer be able to fly directly to Dallas from Joplin, starting on June 1st. The flights to Houston, Denver, and Chicago will be aboard a 50-seat jet made for short distance, regional flights. On Monday, over 1.2 million more flyers passed through TSA checkpoints than on the same date last year. You’ll be able to start booking flights out of Joplin directly to Houston next Tuesday, April 6, 2021.