Sun Country Airlines has launched its first flight from its hub in Minneapolis to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, offering one flight per week on the route.

Expansion into a new state

Sun Country Airlines is a hybrid low-cost airline that uses its 55 aircraft for scheduled, charter and cargo flights. According to its website, its business model enables generate strong cash flows with greater resilience than other passenger airlines. Its crews operate flights of all types, balancing the schedules and seasonality of its network.

Photo: Austin Deppe | Shutterstock

Yesterday, Sun Country launched its first flights to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport from Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport (MSP). The route will be served only once a week with the Boeing 737-800. The airline’s 737-800s are equipped with 186 economy seats. The new flights will not operate on a regular schedule, with the three departures this month taking place at different times.

According to a report by WMUR, Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais said:

“It’s really exciting because Minneapolis is not only a phenomenal city, but it’s a gateway to the West. It really opens up opportunities for the city to fly all over the country. Having a hub like Minneapolis with us is a tremendous opportunity for people here in the city of Manchester and for people who want to come east.”

Overview of activities in Manchester

Although the new route is Sun Country’s first to Manchester, the airport already connects to several cities and has 161,428 seats available on 1,523 round-trip flights this month, accounting for a majority of New Hampshire’s commercial flight operations. Six airlines offer flights to and from Manchester: American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Avelo Airlines, Breeze Airways and Sun Country. American has the largest market share by number of flights, but not the largest seat supply.

Photo: Wenjie Zheng | Shutterstock

According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, American operated 817 round-trip flights in August, compared to Southwest’s 515. However, Southwest has significantly more seats, with 86,349, than American’s 54,211. That’s because American only uses regional jets, such as the Embraer E175 and Mitsubishi CRJ-900, at Manchester. Southwest, on the other hand, uses three variants of its 737, including the MAX 8.

United is offering just 96 round-trip flights this month. The Chicago-based airline flies to Manchester from its hub at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). It offered one daily round-trip flight until August 14, and doubled that number starting August 15.

The rest of the market is shared between Avelo, Breeze and Sun Country with 54, 36 and five flights respectively. Breeze flies to Charleston International Airport (CHS) in South Carolina and Orlando International Airport (MCO). Both flights are operated with Airbus A220s, which Breeze has selected for its fleet renewal plans.

Avelo flies to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) and Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU). Both routes are served by Boeing 737-800 aircraft.