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| Sun Country 737 Photo Sun Country Airlines |
It has been tipped as the biggest route network expansion in the history of Sun Country Airlines! This week the budget carrier announced its plans to launch 19 new seasonal nonstop routes and seven new airports.
The network expansion includes eight new nonstop routes for the airline’s home base of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) and eight new nonstop routes in recently expanded markets Nashville, Tennessee, Dallas Fort Worth and Portland, Oregon. The airline will also expand nonstop destinations from Las Vegas, and welcome San Antonio and Providence, Rhode Island to its growing network.
“Today is a very exciting day in the history of Sun Country as we make this tremendous step forward in growing our airline,” said Sun Country Airlines CEO Jude Bricker. “This network expansion allows us to provide even more destination options to our community, create new jobs in the Twin Cities market and further our reach across the country. We look forward to bringing our mission of offering leisure travellers safe, reliable service at a great price to more people and places.”
The new routes are part of an overall growth plan for the airline that will include aircraft growth and increase the company’s Twin Cities workforce by 10% in 2019. The additional eight routes from MSP will be a nearly 20 % increase in destinations the airline offers local flyers. The announcement was made today by Sun Country Airlines CEO Jude Bricker at a press conference at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport’s Terminal 2 alongside Metropolitan Airports Commission CEO Brian Ryks, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Councilmember Chris Tolbert.
“The new routes announced today create more air service options for travellers and more jobs for Minnesotans,” said Metropolitan Airports Commission CEO Brian Ryks. “Sun Country has the second largest presence among air carriers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International and these additional routes demonstrate our hometown airline’s commitment to growing its business here in Minnesota.”
“When we think of MSP Airport, we usually think of travelling and experiences we enjoy away from our homes, but our airport also has a huge impact on our region’s bottom line,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. “Sun Country’s added network capacity will help connect even more Minnesota businesses with the rest of the world and bring more people into our world-class city. And the 10% increase to their workforce will provide good-paying jobs for the Twin Cities.”
The airline has been experiencing record growth over the past year. Sun Country first added new routes beyond the MSP market in June 2018, bringing on service from Dallas Fort Worth, Madison, Wisconsin, Portland, Oregon and St. Louis, which brought the network at the time from 53 to 64 nonstop routes. Nashville was added in August 2018, and after today’s announcement, the airline will operate a total of 86 routes across 53 airports, which marks a nearly 40% growth in routes served since June 2018. The announcement is the largest addition to the network in the company’s history as a scheduled service airline. Sun Country operated as a charter airline until 1999, at which time it launched scheduled service with an initial 22 routes offered.
The new airports being added to Sun Country’s network are Dulles International Airport (IAD), T.F. Green Airport in Providence (PVD), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), Sacramento International Airport (SMF) and San Antonio International Airport (SAT). 
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The full list of new seasonal routes:
From Minneapolis (MSP)
Dulles International Airport (IAD)
Service starts April 25, 2019
Operates 4x/week initially on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, with daily service beginning June 10, 2019.
One-way fares start as low as $69*
T.F. Green Airport, Providence (PVD)
Service starts April 8, 2019
Operates 4x/week on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday
One-way fares start as low as $79*
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Service starts April 11, 2019
Operates 4x/week initially on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, with daily service beginning April 29, 2019
One-way fares start as low as $99*
Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
Service starts April 19, 2019
Operates 4x/week initially on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, with daily service beginning May 27, 2019
One-way fares start as low as $49*
Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
Service starts April 18, 2019
Operates 4x/week initially on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, with daily service beginning June 3, 2019
One-way fares start as low as $79*
St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL)
Service starts June 7, 2019
Operates 4x/week on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday
One-way fares start as low as $69*
Sacramento International Airport (SMF)
Service starts May 23, 2019
Operates 4x/week on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday
One-way fares start as low as $119*
San Antonio International Airport (SAT)
Service starts May 23, 2019
Operates 4x/week on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday
One-way fares start as low as $89*
From Nashville (BNA)
Portland International Airport (PDX) one-way fares start as low as $109*
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) one-way fares start as low as $89*
T.F. Green Airport, Providence (PVD) one-way fares start as low as $69*
From Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW)**
Sangster International Airport, Montego Bay (MBJ) one-way fares start as low as $249*
Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport, St. Kitts & Nevis (SKB) one-way fares start as low as $219*
From Portland (PDX)
San Antonio International Airport (SAT) one-way fares start as low as $89*
St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) one-way fares start as low as $99*
From Las Vegas (LAS)
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) one-way fares start as low as $159*
Los Cabos Mexico International Airport (SJD) one-way fares start as low as $129*
Puerto Vallarta International Airport (PVR) one-way fares start as low as $139*
From San Francisco (SFO)
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Honolulu (HNL) one-way fares start as low as $259*
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| Sunrise on new routes Photo Sun Country Airlines |
