Sun Country Airlines Adds New Flights Between Minneapolis & Manchester-Boston Regional Airport

Summary

  • Sun Country Airlines launches first flight to Manchester-Boston Airport from Minneapolis, offering new travel opportunities to passengers.
  • Manchester Mayor expresses excitement over new route, highlighting potential to connect city to rest of the country through Minneapolis hub.
  • American, Southwest, United, Avelo, Breeze, and Sun Country Airlines operate in Manchester, with varying flight frequencies and seat offerings.

Sun Country Airlines has launched its first flight to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, from its hub in Minneapolis. The route will operate one weekly flight.

Expanding to a new state

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

A Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737 parked at Dallas Fort Worth

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 operate just once weekly on the Boeing 737-800. The airline’s 737-800s are configured with 186 economy seats. The new flights will not operate on a regular schedule, with its three departures this month operating at different times.

According to a report from WMUR, Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais said,

“This is really exciting because Minneapolis is a phenomenal city, but it’s also a gateway to the west. This really opens up opportunities in the city to fly all over the country. To have a hub like Minneapolis connecting with us it’s a tremendous opportunity for folks here in the city of Manchester and folks who are looking to come east.”

Overview of operations in Manchester

Though the new route is Sun Country’s first to Manchester, the airport is already connected to several cities and has 161,428 seats available this month on 1,523 roundtrip flights, accounting for a large majority of commercial operations in New Hampshire. Six airlines operate flights in and out of 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 highest seat offering.

An American Eagle Embraer E175 landing

Photo: Wenjie Zheng | Shutterstock

According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, American has 817 roundtrip flights in August, compared to 515 from Southwest. But Southwest has a much larger seat offering, 86,349 compared to American’s 54,211. This is because American only uses regional jets in Manchester, like the Embraer E175 and Mitsubishi CRJ-900s. Meanwhile, Southwest deploys three variants of its 737 aircraft, including the MAX 8.

United only has 96 roundtrip flights this month. The Chicago-based carrier flies to Manchester from its hub at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). Until August 14, it operated one daily roundtrip, but from the 15th, it doubled its operations.

The rest of the market is split 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 by the Airbus A220s, which Breeze has chosen for its fleet renewal plans.

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

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