The Meridian Regional Airport announced Tuesday it will offer direct flights by American Airlines to Chicago O’Hare Airport, beginning June 2.

The new flights add a second American hub to the existing Dallas-Ft. Worth connection.

The Meridian Airport Authority made the announcement at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Tickets will be available beginning March 12.

With the current Dallas-Fort Worth service, travelers to mid-sized cities and smaller metro areas, particularly to eastern states, have to use two or more connecting flights to reach their destination.

The new connection expands air travel possibilities from Meridian.

“This additional hub will offer the passengers in our region many more options when making their travel reservations,” Tom Williams, president of the Meridian Regional Airport Authority, said in a statement. “We are extremely proud that the addition of the Chicago hub will make our airport only the second small airport in the country to offer the advantages of two hubs to the traveling public.”

Meridian will lose one daily flight to Dallas to accommodate the new non-stop flight to Chicago, Williams said.

“While we will lose one flight a day to and from Dallas,” Williams said in a statement, “we will gain weekday flights to and from Chicago and an additional flight on Saturdays and Sundays, which should benefit business travelers who leave on Sundays and had to fly out early in the morning. The addition of a flight later that afternoon to Chicago will give them more flexibility.”

The service will be offered through Sky West, an American-affiliated carrier. The service will use a CRJ 200 jet that seats 50 people.

Williams said the airline chose to add a flight between Meridian and Chicago since Chicago was the next closest hub that accommodated 50-seat planes.

For Bruce Martin, the president of the Meyer & Rosenbaum insurance firm, having the second hub will aid Meridian and drive development.

“Air service is essential for the community,” Martin said. “Having options is one of the most important things for not only our city but for our region.”

Martin estimated he would use the airport roughly 10 times a year with the additional hub.

“Everyone I talk to says we have the most friendly airport they’ve ever been to,” Martin said.

Williams said this customer service was part of their goal to be “the best little airport in the world.”

“Good, reliable service made a difference,” Williams said, citing a downturn in the airport’s fortunes three years ago when Silver Airways discontinued service in Meridian. “We thought we’d never come back.”

In October, Williams said getting an East Coast hub was desired, but that none was under consideration at that time.

“A community our size with this good service is rare,” Williams said in October. “We’ve been very fortunate to have what we have, but that’s not stopping us from looking to grow. We’re exploring options to get a better East Coast connection. Most communities would be happy with what we have, but we’re always looking to do better.”

Williams also said at that time that the airport was not pursuing other airlines.

“SkyWest (which operates flights for American in Meridian) has been a great partner. American Airlines is the world’s largest airline. We can’t do any better than that,” Williams said.

The Meridian Regional Airport saw 16,574 passengers fly out of the facility in 2016, a slight increase from the 16,296 passengers who flew out in 2015.

Williams said he the proposed schedule for flights was still a draft and said it would be released on March 12.

The airport’s current schedule of departures and arrivals is:

Meridian 7:51 a.m. Dallas-Ft. Worth 9:39 a.m.

Dallas-Ft. Worth 2:35 p.m. Meridian 4:01 p.m.

Meridian 4:26 p.m. Dallas-Ft. Worth 6:13 p.m.

Dallas-Ft. Worth 8:20 p.m. Meridian 9:50 p.m.