From the Music City to the 'Burgh, here's where you want ILM to offer flights to next

After adding nine new nonstop destinations in the past 18 months, the Wilmington International Airport (ILM) is flying high.

But there are plenty of cities that the Port City airport's carriers − American, United, Delta, Avelo and Sun Country − don't serve that are popular destinations with Southeastern North Carolina residents.

So we asked where you'd like to see new nonstop destinations from ILM, and you didn't disappoint.

While some of the responses were more aspirational than realistic − Europe is an ocean too far, international flights to the Caribbean would be quite a stretch, and while we all love the Last Frontier, Alaska isn't going to happen − many made sense to fill in the dots on Wilmington's route map.

But before we announce the Top Five most popular requests from our unscientific poll, a few facts that will provide a reality check when airports and airlines are looking at new markets.

GAINING ALTITUDE With new flights and passenger numbers soaring, what's next for Wilmington's airport?

Airlines won't start a new route, and airports won't pitch it, unless they have some assurance of filling the plane regularly. So getting a nonstop flight between Wilmington and Rochester, N.Y., just to make it easier for someone to visit the grandkids twice a year isn't going to fly. Ditto service to markets that can't draw at least a smattering of high-paying business travelers to supplement travelers flying for a vacation or to visit friends and family who are looking for the lowest, rock-bottom fare.

And size does matter. Everyone enjoys flying on a big plane when traveling. But the reality is some markets can only support regional jets based on the number of passengers, no matter how uncomfortable those small metal cylinders can sometimes be on long trips.

What happens at Raleigh-Durham and Myrtle Beach airports also plays a role, with those larger facilities potentially already offering nonstop service to destinations eyed by Cape Fear residents and drawing those passengers away from Wilmington's catchment area with more frequencies, larger aircraft and often cheaper fares.

With that out of the way, let's get to your favorite flights to take wing from Wilmington.

Seasonal to year-round service

Many readers said they'd like to see several of ILM's routes changed from seasonal to year-round service.

While most flights from Wilmington to large hub airports, like Charlotte, Atlanta and Philadelphia, run year-round and offer several departures a day, many of the new routes ILM has added are running for only part of the year. That's because the leisure-based market the carrier, particularly Avelo, is trying to tap into is only there for part of the year − or at least that's the initial thinking with the new services.

The flights in general also only run a few times a week. Sun Country's nonstop service from ILM to Minneapolis-St. Paul, for example, started June 1 and will offer two flights a week through Labor Day.

Now if a new destination performs well, there's no reason a carrier might extend the service by adding flights or how long it operates. That's what Wilmington officials are hoping happens with American Airlines' new service to Miami, which is currently slated to only operate on Saturdays from November through March 30, 2024.

Music City bound

Nashville was a popular request, and for a variety of reasons.

The Music City is, obviously, the home of country music and is a massive tourist draw thanks to the dozens of honky-tonks on Broadway and the Gaylord Opryland Resort. It also attracts its fair share of bachelor and bachelorette parties.

But Nashville is more than just a song and dance destination. Tennessee's largest city is a growing business center, home to Nissan North America and a host of medical centers and healthcare companies, and calls Vanderbilt University home.

The market also could be attractive to airlines because of the traffic coming to the Port City as Volunteer State residents seek a vacation at the beach.

Officials at ILM recognize much of this and have named Nashville, along with Denver and Los Angeles, as one of their long-term targets for new air service.

Steel City calling yinz guys

With draws like the ever-popular NFL Steelers, Primanti Bros. sandwiches and IC Light beer, who wouldn't want to travel to the 'Burgh?

Pennsylvania's second largest city has reinvented itself in recent decades, from a blue collar town centered around coal, iron and steel to a hub for medical and high-tech companies.

As well as Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, the Steel City is home to eight Fortune 500 companies and is the business, retail and cultural hub of Western Pennsylvania − plenty of whose residents have relocated to the Wilmington area in recent decades.

There's also a bit of aviation history linking the Port City and the Steel City. US Airways, which merged with American Airlines in 2013, used to operate a major hub in Pittsburgh. In 1989, US Airways − then known as USAir − swallowed up Piedmont Airlines. Piedmont's inaugural flight departed Wilmington in 1948.

Another Big Apple connection

It's no secret that a lot of the Cape Fear region's new residents are from the New York area. To serve that market, Wilmington offers daily flights to New York-LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports.

But there's a third New York airport that attracted a lot of attention from our readers, both for its international links and its proximity to Long Island.

New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) is the country's busiest international airport, served by more than 70 carriers offering flights to 79 countries. The Queens County airport is also an easy jumping off point for those looking to get to Long Island, home to more than three million residents.

JFK is a hub for American and Delta, both of which already serve ILM, and JetBlue, which does not.

Revving up in the Motor City

It's no secret that Detroit has had its ups and downs in recent decades. But the city remains a popular destination with Wilmington-area residents, many of whom have Michigan-area roots.

Whether to visit family and friends or to catch a University of Michigan football game, plenty of you said you'd love to have nonstop service from ILM to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, a major hub for Delta Airlines. Several folks said they'd also use Detroit as a bouncing off point to visit Canada, with Windsor, Ontario, just across the Detroit River from downtown.

Detroit is also a relatively short drive from most of Michigan's major population centers, including Ann Arbor and Lansing, home to Michigan State University, and also is close to northern Ohio and Indiana. And with many Midwesterners looking to escape the dreary winters for the warmer climate of the Cape Fear, leisure traffic likely wouldn't just be one-way heading north.

Detroit also is a major business center. Home to the country's Big Three automakers, the Motor City is also headquarters for a number of manufacturing companies and is a major retail and healthcare hub.

Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at GMcGrath@Gannett.com or @GarethMcGrathSN on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington International Airport nonstop flights and new destinations