Billings hosts city's first ever Montana Airline Rendezvous

Billings hosted the annual Montana Airline Rendezvous Wednesday, with the goal of boosting local flights in the state.

The meeting, which has never been held in Billings before, combines statewide airports with airline representatives in an effort to bring these services to the Big Sky state.

This year, the meeting included airport representatives from Billings, Bozeman, Helena, Great Falls, Missoula, Kalispell and West Yellowstone.

Airline representatives visited the Magic City from Allegiant, Cape Air, Delta, Southwest, United, Westjet, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, Sun Country and American.

The majority of the meeting was held at the Northern Hotel, but airline representatives were also given the opportunity to explore the outdoors in an effort to show them what the area has to offer.

Billings Logan International Airport cirector Jeff Roach said he hopes the meeting will help bring more opportunities and cheaper flights to the community.

“Competition provides an opportunity to see lower airfares," Roach said. "So the more flight opportunities that we have, the more seats available for people to fly in and out of Billings, the more likely we are to see lower airfares. And so this is very important for us to keep this process going."