WATERLOO - Beginning today, Midwest Air Taxi will start nonstop, round-trip flights twice a week from Waterloo to Chicago and Kansas City.

The flights out of Waterloo Regional Airport are scheduled to depart at 7 a.m. Return flights from Chicago's Midway and Kansas City's downtown airports will be at 5 p.m.

Flights to Chicago are scheduled on Mondays and Thursdays and to Kansas City on Tuesdays and Fridays. Passengers can schedule return flights the same day as departure or later.

"That way, they can spend a couple of nights if they need to," said Dave LeCompte, co-owner of Midwest Air Taxi.

The company originally planned on flights to Milwaukee and Madison, Wis., on Wednesdays as well. But it will hold off for now to keep that day available for "ad-hoc" flights.

"It could be a big thing for the Cedar Valley," CEO Ben Frein said.

Flights can be booked one way for $275, or round-trip for $500 for single passengers. In May and June the company is offering discounts for additional passengers in group bookings for $200 per person for round trips, Frein said.

"It's kind of a Southwest (Airlines) model, because they can purchase one-way tickets," LeCompte said.

The company previously only scheduled flights on an as-needed basis. Livingston Aviation operates the flights as a scheduled charter service.

Chicago and Kansas City are sought-after business destinations but, up to now, getting there from Waterloo was a challenge, LeCompte said.

"This allows them to know, 'Hey, I can get to Chicago and don't have to pay a couple thousand dollars for charter air taxi,'" he said.

LeCompte noted the airlines fly to Chicago from Cedar Rapids, but fares can be as high as $1,200, though temporary fare sales have been available.

"But, even then, to fly out of Cedar Rapids, that's an hour drive, an hour security and an hour flight," he said.

LeCompte pointed out that air taxi service customers can bypass security queues mandatory on commercial flights.

The only direct-scheduled commercial airline service out of the Waterloo Regional Airport is to Minneapolis-St Paul.

"There's obviously been a demand in the community for scheduled service beyond what Northwest offered (to the Twin Cities)," LeCompte said.

Brad Hagen, manager of Waterloo's airport, said the service's user-friendly advantage is compelling.

"This allows our business travelers convenience they have not had in years from the Waterloo airport," Hagen said in a prepared statement.

For information, go online at www.mwairtaxi.com or call (888) 373-7044.