WHEATFIELD — Passengers from Niagara Falls International Airport will be able to fly to Melbourne, Fla., starting in February.

Direct Air has announced it will add a third destination to the routes the Myrtle Beach, S. C., company flies from the Niagara Falls airport.

The company plans to begin flights twice weekly from Niagara Falls International to Melbourne International Airport. Those flights will then continue on to Port Charlotte Airport in Punta Gorda, Fla.

The announcement comes as the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority prepares to open a $31.6 million new terminal at the airport in December and has aggressively attempted to attract new flights to Niagara Falls.

“The addition of flights, the addition of activity starts to draw more interest into an airport,” said Bill Vanecek, NFTA Director of Aviation. “It’s extremely important; when you see those passenger numbers start to climb, it makes marketing the airport simpler.”

Vanecek said a second Florida destination would appeal to potential passengers from Western New York and southern Ontario.

Direct Air, which began operating flights from Niagara Falls to Myrtle Beach in March 2007, is the only airline to offer regularly scheduled passenger service from the airport. It added flights to Punta Gorda in late 2007.

Since it began flying from Niagara Falls, Direct Air has more than doubled the all-time passenger tallies for the airport.

“We are here to stay,” Ed Warneck, Direct Air president and managing partner, told Niagara County leaders last week. “We have made a commitment.”

The company has expanded from operating flights in three destinations in 2007 to offering flights at 16 locations.

“They’re going against the norm,” Vanecek said. “They are adding destinations, and we’re happy to be a beneficiary of that.”

Warneck said the company has flown more than 100,000 passengers at Niagara Falls and has more than 30,000 booked.

The new flights will operate on a 150-passenger Falcon Air MD83.

The company will begin offering air fares to Melbourne starting at $99 each way on its Web site,

www.visitdirectair.com

.