Yes, you can now fly from Flagstaff to Dallas, Denver or Phoenix non-stop, every day of the week. You also have your choice of American Airlines or United Airlines. Both offer daily non-stop service from Flagstaff to the world.
United Airlines began serving Flagstaff for the first time on March 31. The first month’s stats are in and they are doing well. United started two other markets on the same day, Myrtle Beach and Paine Field in the Seattle area. On the opening flight, Flagstaff was the only airport of the three that sold out the first flight. Since that first success, the community has been filling 82% of the seats daily.
Not to be outdone, American Airlines added daily service to Dallas with their current Phoenix routes. They also have had a very successful first month with these Dallas flights. They continue to offer Phoenix, which gives connection up and down the West Coast.
Besides timelier connections to the rest of the country, Dallas and Denver give Flagstaff more international options. With the promotions of Discover Flagstaff from our Convention and Visitors Bureau, international connections will benefit our tourism partners in town. Many businesses in Flagstaff have already begun taking advantage of the new options as we see them in the terminal every day. The time saved going through Denver or Dallas can place you in the location of your meeting that same business day. There is no need to drive the two or three hours to Phoenix anymore.
With these route additions, our terminal will be experiencing some changes to provide better service as well. Air Café has changed their menu offerings and will have Starbucks daily. You will see construction going on to add restrooms in the holding area. With that, you can go through screening and not have to come back out before your flight. Soon, Air Café will be adding a coffee cart in the holding area as well.
With the new service and increased passengers, we will continue to make effective changes. The first is to increase parking, which does take time. So, while we work on the parking, we do encourage you to have someone drop you off and pick you up at the curb.
Choices are good, and if we fill the seats, it will encourage our airline partners to look at other destinations.
Thank you for choosing to always fly Flagstaff first! FBN
By Barney Helmick
Barney Helmick is the airport director with the City of Flagstaff.