New airline launches Tri-Cities flights to Reno with links to 8 West Coast cities
ExpressJet Airlines’ new leisure brand aha! has chosen the Tri-Cities to be one eight new markets to operate a nonstop flight to Reno-Tahoe International Airport.
The Tri-Cities Airport is aha!’s only market in Washington.
Introductory ticket prices will be $49 each way.
The relaunch of the airline comes a year after the company stopped all operations in the U.S. in September 2020 after 35 years.
ExpressJet was once one of the country’s largest and most prestigious regional airlines that flew for American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and most recently, United Airlines, according to Business Insider.
The U.S. Department of Transportation gave it’s final approval for the airline’s relaunch in July.
The direct flight from Pasco to Reno-Tahoe beginning Oct. 24 will be the first of series of markets to launch along the West Coast between October and mid-November.
Aha! also will have flights to Reno-Tahoe from Medford, Eugene and Redmond/Bend in Oregon, as well as Baskerfield, Ontario, Eureka/Arcata and Fresno/Yosemite in California.
Flights will depart from Pasco on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 4:25 p.m. and arrive in Reno-Tahoe at 6 p.m.
Return flights will operate on the same days, departing Reno-Tahoe at 2:05 p.m. and landing in Tri-Cities at 3:40 p.m.
“We are thrilled to be able to provide another nonstop destination for the Tri-Cities community to explore,” said Buck Taft, director of the Tri-Cities Airport.
“The Reno-Tahoe area provides year-round entertainment — from casinos to camping, breweries to bike trails — and we appreciate aha! providing a convenient connection between our two regions,” he said.
Tickets can be purchased at flyaha.com.
The Reno aha! flight joins 10 other cities with nonstop flights out of the Tri-Cities Airport, including Seattle, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Denver, Minneapolis, Las Vegas, Phoenix-Mesa and Burbank.
Direct flights to San Diego and Los Angeles also operate seasonally.
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 12:16 PM.