The Airlines That Serve Fresno Yosemite International

Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT) in the American state of California is, as its name suggests, well-positioned to serve Yosemite National Park, as well as Sequoia and Kings Canyon. An interesting variety of airlines flies there, attracting visitors from both within the US and beyond its borders. Let’s take a closer look at the nature of these, and where you can get to from Fresno with such carriers.

The airport in a nutshell

Over the last two decades, Fresno Yosemite International Airport has seen its overall annual passenger figures more than double. From just under a million in the years immediately following the 9/11 attacks and subsequent industry downturn in the early 2000s, the facility reached a pre-pandemic peak of more than 1.96 million passengers in 2019. This then dropped to a low of just over 990,000 in 2020.

However, given the importance of domestic tourism as a means of stimulating aviation’s post-pandemic recovery, this figure quickly returned to 1.95 million in 2021, before rising to a record level of more than 2.1 million passengers in 2022. According to the airport’s website, this figure was then beaten once again in 2023, with the total rising by a factor of 12% to an impressive 2.4 million guests.

According to present scheduling data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, 2024 looks set to be another busy year for the Californian facility. Indeed, a grand total of 27,051 passenger-carrying flights have been scheduled to and from Fresno Airport this year, offering collective totals of 3,213,189 seats and 2,627,715,361 available seat miles (ASMs). But which are the key airlines at the facility?

International operators

While, as the airport’s full name suggests, Fresno does handle international services, these only account for just over 10% of its traffic in terms of commercial movements, with 2,761 foreign flights scheduled in 2024. These services will offer 514,456 seats and 780,674,772 ASMs, and exclusively serve destinations in neighboring Mexico. Correspondingly, they are all operated by Mexican carriers.

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Mexican flag carrier and SkyTeam member Aeroméxico is one such carrier, with 623 flights scheduled on its route between Fresno Yosemite International Airport and Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International (GDL) this year. These services will offer 99,680 seats and 148,921,920 ASMs, compared to the 414,776 seats and 631,752,852 ASMs offered by Volaris’ 2,138 flights to and from the likes of:

• León/Bajio International (BJX).
• Guadalajara.
• Morelia General Francisco J. Mujica International (MJM).

Full-service carriers

Meanwhile, the remaining 24,290 flights to and from Fresno Yosemite International Airport this year, which will offer 2,698,733 seats and 1,847,040,589 ASMs, will all serve domestic routes. They are split between six major American carriers, of which four fall into the full-service bracket, and two serve the low-cost sector. Interestingly, three of the four full-service carriers have very similar flight totals.

Photo: Fresno Yosemite International Airport

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Star Alliance carrier United Airlines just about comes out on top, with 6,203 flights to and from Fresno scheduled this year, but oneworld’s American Airlines isn’t far behind, with 6,034. There also isn’t much of a gap to Alaska Airlines’ total of 5,285 flights, and, interestingly, these offer relatively similar seat totals (495,774 for United and 465,844 for Alaska). However, American Airlines’ seat total is much higher.

Indeed, the silver-liveried carrier has 843,699 seats scheduled on its Fresno flights this year, largely due to the fact that most of them use mainline aircraft. On the other hand, regional subsidiaries do the bulk of the flying for United and Alaska Airlines’ Fresno flights, using smaller planes to do so. Both of these carriers primarily serve West Coast destinations, while American favors Dallas and Phoenix.

Photo: Wirestock Creators | Shutterstock

The fourth full-service carrier to operate domestic flights to and from Fresno is Atlanta-based juggernaut Delta Air Lines. The carrier has scheduled 2,512 services to and from the California facility in 2024, offering collective grand totals of 221,914 seats and 208,837,794 ASMs. Delta Air Lines’ mainline aircraft fly to and from its Atlanta hub, while regional jets look after its Salt Lake City flights.

Low-cost options

When it comes to low-cost operators serving American domestic routes to and from Fresno, Southwest Airlines has the largest presence. Indeed, 2,986 of the carrier’s flights are scheduled to serve the airport this year, and, due to always using mainline aircraft rather than regional jets, its total of 469,302 seats is comparable to those of United and Alaska despite operating fewer flights. From Fresno, it serves:

• Dallas Love Field (DAL).
• Denver International (DEN).
• Las Vegas Harry Reid International (LAS).

This just leaves ultra-low-cost operator Allegiant Air, whose presence at Fresno Yosemite International Airport consists of just a single domestic route. Indeed, all of the 202,200 seats and 52,167,600 ASMs that the airline has scheduled at the Californian facility this year can be found on its 1,270 flights to and from Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport, a route on which it competes with Southwest.

Have you ever visited Fresno Yosemite International Airport? If so, which airline(s) did you fly with? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!