BizTRAVEL Danette Bewley
New Flights Added at Tucson International Airport By April Bourie Recent flight additions at Tucson International Airport (TUS) are making it even easier for passengers to visit their friends and family or travel for business from Tucson. New nonstop flights have been added by Alaska Airlines to Paine Field in Everett, Wash., and a new airline, Avelo, is now flying to Hollywood Burbank Airport. Both flights offer the opportunity to use more convenient alternate airports in two of the most popular metropolitan areas for Tucson travelers. Alaska Airlines’ flight to Paine Field, added in November, is on the north side of Seattle and makes for quicker access to the northern Puget Sound region. Opened in 2019, Paine Field’s modern terminal is gaining attention for its ease of use and amenities. In all, Alaska is currently serving six destinations from Everett. Tucson was the only new destination added in 2021. Avelo Airlines flight to Hollywood Burbank was added in December, making Tucson Avelo’s 19th destination nationwide and its 11th destination served from its West Coast base at Hollywood Burbank Airport. 34 BizTucson
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Winter 2022
“One of our top priorities has been securing more nonstop flights from TUS to the Los Angeles Basin,” explained Danette Bewley, Tucson Airport Authority President and CEO. “With these new flights, we have a win-win. Southern Arizonans now have an easier and more convenient way to reach many L.A.-area destinations and Southern Californians, who are among our top sources for visitors to Tucson, have another way to come here.” The flights now operate on Thursdays and Sundays, and Avelo also offered additional flights on select Tuesdays and Saturdays during the end-of-year peak holiday season. “Despite the challenges of the pandemic, airlines have shown their confidence in our market and have restored approximately 85% of the flights and seat capacity that were lost during the onset of the pandemic,” Bewley said. “In addition, in December 2021, we reached approximately 95% of our seat capacity as compared to December 2019. In this regard, the Tucson market’s recovery has outpaced national recovery statistics when compared to peer airports.”
Bewley believes Tucson’s more rapid recovery is due to the fact that people continue to want to travel during the pandemic and are looking for outdoor activities and open spaces. “A lot of cities that were hit hard were high density without room to get out and move about,” she said. “People want to come to Tucson because of the opportunity to enjoy the scenery and outdoor activities, and that helped us to attract new visitors.” As exciting as these new flights are, Bewley cautioned that all flights in and out of Tucson are a “use it or lose it” proposition. “Airlines make aircraft scheduling and route decisions in markets where they can gain the highest yield,” she said. “If the airlines’ market research shows that our community is using another airport to get to a destination that is served from Tucson, it hampers our efforts to add more flights and serve markets not currently offered in Tucson. My ask of the community is to choose to fly out of Tucson whenever possible.”
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