Fast-growing budget carrier Sun Country Airlines remains in expansion mode, announcing 10 new summertime routes — including two to new international destinations — as it extended its booking schedule past Labor Day in 2024.
All of the new routes are seasonal and will be from Sun Country’s main hub at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), where the Minnesota-based carrier has shown an increasing propensity to take on Delta Air Lines. Delta also operates a busy hub at MSP, often putting the two carriers into direct competition in the Twin Cities market.
Eight of Sun Country’s 10 new routes will go head-to-head with Delta, even to smaller destinations like Billings, Montana, and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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The only two new Sun Country routes that will avoid Delta are the airline’s new flights from MSP to Oakland, California, and Syracuse, New York. Sun Country will be the only carrier flying nonstop on those routes.
The new international cities joining Sun Country’s route map are Toronto and Montreal, which will be served with two flights a week from early June through late August. Sun Country will compete directly with both Air Canada and Delta on those routes.
Sun Country says the new routes will give it “nonstop service from MSP to 98 distinct markets in 2024.”
It also comes as the carrier has been increasingly willing to take on Delta, which dominates passenger traffic at MSP, for leisure traffic.
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“We’re trying to turn Minneapolis into a two-airline market,” CEO Jude Bricker said last year at the Skift Aviation Forum in Dallas. “If you pay with your own money, you fly with Sun Country. If you fly on a corporate contract, you fly Delta.”
“Sun Country prides itself on being the leisure airline of choice for MSP customers,” Grant Whitney, senior vice president and chief revenue officer for Sun Country, added in a statement detailing the new routes. “We have more than doubled our nonstop destinations for customers flying out of MSP in the last five years and we are thrilled to offer these unique new offerings spanning the continent from Quebec to New Mexico.”
Sun Country is seeking to carve out a solid No. 2 position in the Twin Cities, where its leisure-oriented focus will make it a top choice for cost-conscious travelers. Sun County’s effort goes beyond its inevitable competition with Delta. Back in 2021, Sun Country appeared to retaliate against low-cost rival Allegiant when the carrier tried to grow its footprint in MSP.
Budget carrier battle: Sun Country appears to retaliate against Allegiant
Elsewhere, Sun Country will tweak its service in Houston, switching its base there from George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to the smaller William P. Hobby Airport (HOU). IAH is dominated by United Airlines, but Sun Country faces another dominant carrier at Hobby, where Southwest accounts for the vast majority of flights.
News of Sun Country’s latest routes came as it extended its booking schedule through Sept. 10. A full list of the new routes is below.
Sun Country’s new Canada routes
Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL)
- Service begins June 21 and runs through Aug. 26. There will be two weekly flights on Fridays and Mondays.
- Nonstop competition includes Air Canada and Delta Air Lines.
Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ)
- Service begins June 13 and runs through Aug. 25. There will be two weekly flights on Thursdays and Sundays.
- Nonstop competition includes Air Canada and Delta Air Lines.
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Sun Country’s new US routes
Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) in New Mexico
- Service begins June 19 and runs through Aug. 21. There will be two weekly flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
- Nonstop competition includes Delta Air Lines.
Billings Logan International Airport (BIL) in Montana
- Service begins June 19 and runs through Aug. 28. There will be two weekly flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
- Nonstop competition includes Delta Air Lines.
Boise Airport (BOI)
- Service begins June 19 and runs through Aug. 21. There will be two weekly flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
- Nonstop competition includes Delta Air Lines.
Grand Rapids Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) in Michigan
- Service begins June 13 and runs through Sept 1. There will be two weekly flights on Thursdays and Sundays.
- Nonstop competition includes Delta Air Lines.
Missoula Montana Airport (MSO)
- Service begins June 26 and runs through Aug. 24. There will be two weekly flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
- Nonstop competition includes Delta Air Lines.
Oakland International Airport (OAK) in California
- Service begins May 23 and runs through Sept 1. There will be two weekly flights on Thursdays and Sundays.
- There is no nonstop competition.
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Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR) in New York
- Service begins June 6 and runs through Sept 1. There will be two weekly flights on Thursdays and Sundays.
- There is no nonstop competition.
Dulles International Airport (IAD) near Washington, D.C.
- Service begins April 18. There will be two weekly flights on Thursdays and Sundays.
- Service increases to four flights per week on June 12 with the addition of flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
- Service ends Sept. 8.
- Nonstop competition includes Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.
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