Central Illinois Regional Airport (CIRA) has everything you can possibly think of to make your trip nice and smooth. Most business people find it convenient that they have a hotel, Holiday Inn, across the street from them to stay for long nights of traveling. Their airport in Bloomington, Illinois has the perfect location! They are located two miles east of veteran's parkway on route 9. Their prices are incomparably low to others as they also offer free parking! Within Central Illinois Regional Airport they provide three different airlines: American, Delta, & Allegiant. At CIRA they offer free Wi-Fi in the airport, and also provide different rentals such as: Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, & Normal. Hope you find CIRA, a stress-free and smooth time while trying to fly out.

Terminal in airportFront entrance Hof airport

About CIRA:

History:

The airport started way back in the spring of 1927 when farmer Herman Will opened a 70+ acre tract in the Normal Township.To the west of the field was recently paved Illinois 2 (which is now U.S. 51/Main Street), and to the east of it was the Illinois Central Railroad (today it's the Constitution Trail). Dedication of the airport was on May 30th, 1928, witnessed by 10,000 area residents. Local and visiting pilots staged an air show of "stunts and jumps and aerial tricks," according to The Pantagraph. A few weeks after the dedication, the U.S. Department of Commerce placed the Normal field on its list of officially recognized airports. The following summer, on July 11th, 1929, a larger crowd, estimated around at 15,000, gathered at the airfield for the Central Illinois Air Derby. Billed at the time as the greatest such event in Illinois outside of Chicago, the show included four U.S. army "ships" from Chanute Field in Rantoul, civilian avaitors from places like Aurora, Champaign, Joliet, and Kankakee. Despite the efforts of local aviation enthusiasts and the business community, attempts to establish a long-term passenger service at the Normal Field ended in failure. In the fall of 1931, Century Air Lines added Bloomington to its Chicago-to-St. Louis route. The winter of 1931-1932 was a wet one which made the field to mushy for the carrier's tri-motor airplanes. The following spring, American Airways assumed Century's role, but after only two days (May 1st-2nd) the company terminated the service to the little airfield, and Bloomington lost its place on the air map. The new airfield (Central Illinois Regional Airport- CIRA for short) was dedicated on late October 1934. Nothing survives of the old airport, but a historic marker near the north end of the Constitution Trail commemorates the site.

Information about CIRA

At CIRA, they have locations that are flown to daily such as: Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Orlando, Detroit, and Chicago. At the airport they draw in more people due to the fast ticketing and security processes which draws in about 580,000 passengers annually. The best part of the airport: Parking is free. Along with free parking there is also a parking shuttle service if needed. In the terminal there is free Wi-Fi. Also for people who need to work while they travel, there is an area for recharging devices in the gate area. CIRA offers flights from the following airlines: American, Delta, & Allegiant. For car rental there are some available right at the airport from the companies: Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, and National. Near CIRA, in Bloomington IL, there are a lot of corporate businesses such as: Mitsubishi Motors, State Farm, Country Financial, Beer Nuts, and Afni. Also surrounding them are several colleges: Illinois State University, Illinois Weseleyan University, and Heartland Community College.

Updating the service road:

Recently, the Central Illinois Regional Airport received a federal grant awarded through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration to upgrade a service road. The grant is going to end up costing approximately $1.2 million. CIRA Executive Director Carl Olson announced that the grant is going to help rebuild the service road that is next to the fenced-in area at the airport. It's important to them to update this road because it connects the ramp and the service vehicles to the main part of the airport. The road was originally built in 2001, and now the trucks are weighing more so they want to make it safer. The estimated project should be completed by the early summer of 2016. Olson says, "If we are going to be a great leader in the world economy, we need an infrastructure to support it. This investment in the Central Illinois Regional Airport will allow the airport to continue transporting passengers safely and efficiently."

Directions to Central Illinois Regional Airport:

Driving South on I-55: Veteran's Parkway Exit (167). Travel south on Veteran's through seven stoplights. Turn left (east) at the 8th light. This will be Illinois Route 9. The airport is two miles from Veteran's and Route 9 intersection on the right side of the road.

Driving South on 1-39: Take Chicago 55 North off of I-39 as you approach Bloomington. Travel on 55 North to Veteran's Parkway through seven stoplights. Turn left (east) at the 8th light. This will be Illinois Route 9. The airport is two miles from Veteran's and Route 9 intersection on the right side of the road.

Driving West on I-74: Take the Downs Exit off of I-74 (142). Turn right and travel through the village of Downs until you come to a T-intersection with a stop sign. Turn left at the stop sign (Highway 150) and proceed to the next stoplight. This will be the Towanda-Barnes road. Turn right on Towanda-Barnes and travel 5 miles to the 3rd stoplight. Turn left at the stoplight (Illinois Route 9) and travel one mile to airport entrance on the left side of the road.

Driving North on I-55: Veteran's Parkway Exit. Travel north on Veteran's through eleven stoplights. Turn right (east) at 12th light. The airport is two miles from Veteran's and Route 9 intersection on the right side of the road.

Driving East on I-74: Take Chicago 55 north off of I-74 as you approach Bloomington. Travel on 55 North to Veteran's Parkway exit (167). Travel south on Veteran's Parkway through eight stoplights. Turn left (east) at the 8th light. This will be Illinois Route 9. The Airport is two miles from Veteran's and Route 9 intersection on the right side of the road.

Driving North on IL Route 51: Stay on 51 as you enter Bloomington to Veteran's Parkway (Business 55). Turn right on to Veteran's Parkway. Travel through 10 stoplights. At the 11th stoplight turn right on to Illinois Route 9. The airport is two miles from Veteran's and Route 9 intersection on the right side of the road.

About the Terminals:

According to Cira.com , "The Central Illinois Regional Airport opened the doors to its new $14 million terminal building on Monday, November 5, 2001" (Cira, 1). With the newest expansion, the terminal is now three times larger than the previous terminal. With the expansion, they also increased the offers to the customers. At CIRA they have nearly 3,000 parking spaces to provide to the people for free. Also they have four ground level boarding gates, and five second level boarding gates. Inside the airport they have a full service restaurant where you can order any meal of the day, and two baggage carousels.

Ground LevelMezzaine Level

Conference Room Inside the Airport:

Majority of people who are always flying out of airports are business men and women. To make everyone's trip smoother, CIRA added a conference center on the second floor of the terminal building. Inside the conference center includes two spacious room that add more than 800 square feet to the room. Within the rooms is a divider and the conference room holds up to 25 people on one side. If you want to combine to room together you can hold up to 45 people. The conference rooms are available for rent at an hourly rate, half-days, and also up to a full day. In addition to the nice room, they also provide you with a computer, projector, and a mobile teleconferencing unit if needed. The conference center is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

One room in the conference rooms at CIRA