Skip to content
Go to Home Page
News

Sun Country announces 18 nonstop routes, including 9 new destinations

Ben Mutzabaugh
Articles
Ben Mutzabaugh is the senior aviation editor and heads TPG’s airline coverage. Ben joined TPG in March 2019 after nearly 19 years at USA Today, where he launched the long-running, industry-leading Today in the Sky blog in 2002.
April 27, 2021
•
4 min read
Los Angeles Exteriors And Landmarks - 2020
This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page.

Sun Country is the latest carrier to shake up its route map during the pandemic.

The Minnesota-based leisure carrier announced 18 routes on Tuesday, part of an expansion that will add nine new cities to its network.

Want more airline-specific news? Sign up for TPG's free new biweekly Aviation newsletter!

Those new Sun Country cities are:

  • Duluth, Minnesota (DLH)
  • Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (GCM)
  • Green Bay, Wisconsin (GRB)
  • Mesa-Phoenix (AZA)
  • Milwaukee (MKE)
  • Punta Gorda, Florida (PGD)
  • Rochester., Minnesota (RST)
  • St. Petersburg. Florida (PIE)
  • Providenciales, Turks and Caicos (PLS)

Interestingly, that pushes Sun Country into the secondary airports of several markets it already serves.

The carrier’s new service to Mesa-Phoenix, for example, comes on top of its existing service to the region’s primary airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX).

Air travel resurgence: Airlines are on the verge of finally making money again

It’s a similar story in Florida, where Sun Country’s flights to Punta Gorda will complement its service from Fort Myers (RSW) – which is only about 35 miles away. And new flights to St. Petersburg will be in addition to Sun County’s schedule from two other nearby airports: Tampa (TPA) and Sarasota (SRQ).

At all three of those secondary airports, Sun Country will try to establish a toehold at airports dominant by rival budget carrier Allegiant.

Sign up for our daily newsletter

Overall, Sun Country’s expansion focuses on airports in the upper Midwest, including its main base in Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP). MSP landed seven nonstop routes, a number that includes one seasonal route (Bozeman, Montana) that had been scheduled to end but now will be extended later into the season. Milwaukee, one of Sun Country’s new cities, also fared well with five nonstop routes.

Sun Country’s route update comes as a slow-but-steady uptick in air travel that’s been led by leisure flyers.

Connect by … bus?!? Report from Sun Country’s first Landline bus connection

“With more and more people excited to resume traveling, we’re thrilled to be able to offer them the opportunity to visit these incredible vacation destinations this winter,” Grant Whitney, Sun Country’s chief revenue officer, said in a statement.

A full list of Sun County’s new routes is below. All are seasonal except for the Milwaukee-MSP and Milwaukee-Las Vegas routes.

New routes from Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP)

  • Bozeman, Montana (BZN): Begins Dec. 16, when previous seasonal service was set to end (two weekly flights)
  • Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (GCM): Begins Dec. 18 (Saturday-only service)
  • Mesa-Phoenix (AZA): Begins Nov. 24 (four weekly flights)
  • Milwaukee (MKE): Begins Aug. 26 (two weekly flights)
  • St. Petersburg, Florida (PIE): Begins Nov. 25 (four weekly flights)
  • Providenciales, Turks and Caicos (PLS): Begins Dec. 18 (Saturday-only service)
  • Punta Gorda, Florida (PGD): Begins Dec. 10 (two weekly flights)

New routes from Milwaukee (MKE)

  • Cancun, Mexico: (CUN): Begins Dec; 18 (Saturday-only service)
  • Fort Myers, Florida (RSW): Begins Dec. 15 (two weekly flights)
  • Las Vegas (LAS): Begins Aug. 26 (two weekly flights)
  • Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP): Begins Aug. 26 (two weekly flights)
  • Phoenix (PHX): Begins Dec. 16 (two weekly flights)

Another low-cost competitor? David Neeleman’s new airline, Breeze, just cleared a major hurdle

New routes from Duluth, Minnesota (DLH)

  • Fort Myers, Florida (RSW): Begins Dec. 17 (two weekly flights)
  • Phoenix (PHX): Begins Dec. 17 (two weekly flights)

New routes from Green Bay, Wisconsin (GRB)

  • Fort Myers, Florida (RSW): Begins Dec. 16 (two weekly flights)
  • Phoenix (PHX): Begins Dec. 17 (two weekly flights)

New routes from Rochester, Minnesota (RST)

  • Fort Myers, Florida (RSW): Begins Feb. 3 (two weekly flights)
  • Phoenix (PHX): Begins Feb. 4 (two weekly flights)

New route from Madison, Wisconsin (MSN)

  • Phoenix (PHX): Begins Dec. 16 (two weekly flights)
Featured image by GC Images
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.