SIOUX CITY | An aircraft maintenance business at Sioux Gateway Airport is preparing to launch a charter airline service.
Aviation Charter Expert Solutions, or ACES, is seeking local investors to purchase the first aircraft for the charter. A meeting for potential investors will be held at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Bev’s on the River.
The charter service, which is expected to begin flying by late spring, will bring new jobs, investment and travel options to Siouxland, ACES COO Travis Stein said.
“This first airplane is really just the beginning of the expansion and the beginning of something great in Sioux City,” ACES COO Travis Stein said. “Businesses and groups who don’t currently have access to customized air travel will now have the experience of basically having their own plane.”
The startup comes as Sioux Gateway officials look to expand commercial service. In October, Frontier Airlines, ceased its three weekly flights between Sioux City and Denver.
The pullout left Sioux Gateway as a single-airline airport with no direct connections to western destinations.
American Airlines flies two daily connecting routes to Chicago O’Hare International under a federal program that subsidizes flights originating at smaller, rural airports.
ACES operates a Federal Aviation Adminstration-certified maintenance and repair station in a hangar it leases from Sioux Gateway Airport. The facility currently serves more than a dozen airline customers.
The company’s principals have experience with aircraft maintenance and flight operations throughout the U.S., Caribbean, Mexico, and Africa.