IDAHO FALLS, Idaho -- There will be a lot less traffic coming through the Idaho Falls airport next month after Horizon Airlines pulls out Aug. 22.

This means no flights from Idaho Falls to the state capital.

Anyone who flies to Boise or makes a connecting flight through it will be affected, that's about 25,000 passengers a year

The city doesn't want to lose that business and so is doing something about it.

Spencer Paxson flies Horizon from Seattle to Idaho Falls about once a month for business. With Horizon canceling its service to eastern Idaho next month, he will have to find an alternate route.

"Well, there are other ways to get here. You have the other major airlines like Delta, which is a route through Salt Lake City, instead of Boise,” said Paxson. “It takes a little longer, but at the last minute there are less options with traveling schedules. You have to plan ahead more."

John Blower commuted to the state capital once a month while he served on the Board of Directors for Idaho Special Olympics. While he doesn't need the service as much now, he understands it could pose an obstacle for many local businesses.

"I think if they want to continue to have business and state people that fly back and forth. You've got legislators, business folks that need to go to Boise for business on a daily basis,” said Blower. “I think that service is probably a valuable one to them."

Aviation Director Len Nelson said Idaho Falls is working on finding another carrier to provide the service by hiring a consulting firm, but the city can only fight half the battle.

"This isn't just an Idaho Falls problem. It’s a Boise problem too,” said Nelson. “They need to get here. It isn't a one-way issue it's a statewide issue."

The federal government does have a small community grant program to subsidize the fares to guarantee a carrier will make a profit for a limited time, but Nelson says it will take some time to find that replacement.

"We really don't know at this point. Our options are very limited,” said Nelson. “You look around and what carriers would be able to do that and connect traffic. Certainly not United, not Delta, Continental, Frontier just pulled out of Boise. It's a very difficult market."

While there are nearly 200,000 airline passengers from the region that fly every year, more than 40 percent of them travel to another airport.

The city is paying the Sixel Consulting Group about $30,000 to research, conduct surveys and find a new carrier.

In the next few weeks businesses in the Idaho Falls and Boise areas will receive survey questionnaires from the Sixel Consulting Group to collect information on how the airport is used to determine what airline might benefit from service to Idaho Falls.