Record year for the Tri-Cities Airport. New Pasco flights being added in 2020
The Tri-Cities Airport served more passengers than ever before in 2019 and now is looking forward to new flights being added this year.
The airport’s business in 2019 was boosted when United Airlines added daily flights between the Tri-Cities and Los Angeles International Airport in April, but United ended the service early this month when the flights did not earn as much revenue as expected.
But now United plans to add a second daily nonstop flight to San Francisco in May, and it’s adding the airport’s first red-eye flight, which will go to Chicago O’Hare in June.
In 2019, nearly 870,900 people flew into and out of the airport.
That was almost 86,000 more than the year before. It was an 11 percent jump over 2018, which previously had been the busiest year on record.
“To beat 2018’s record by more than 10 percent is incredible,” said Buck Taft, director of the airport.
Four airlines serve Tri-Cities
Each of the four airplanes that serve the Tri-Cities had more passengers than the year before flying from the Tri-Cities in 2019.
United Airlines saw a 25 percent increase in passengers flying out of the airport in Pasco.
Delta and Alaska each saw an 8 percent increase, and Allegiant Airlines had a 13 percent increase.
Delta was the busiest, accounting for 41 percent of the passengers leaving the Tri-Cities in 2019.
Nonstop flights are now available to eight cities from the Tri-Cities, including Phoenix, Denver, Minneapolis, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco. The current Los Angeles flight is seasonal.
The new Chicago flight is planned to leave Pasco at 11:30 p.m. and arrive in Chicago at 5:07 a.m.
It will return at 8 p.m., arriving in Pasco at 9:57 p.m.
The new San Francisco flight will arrive in Pasco at 11:29 a.m. and leave at 1:26 p.m.
Taft said he is continuing to work to get a nonstop flight to Portland and year-round service to Los Angeles.
This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 3:11 PM.