Canadian low-cost carrier Flair Airlines launched its new nonstop flights from Tucson International Airport on Wednesday with the first of its twice-weekly flights to Edmonton and Fort McMurray, Alberta.
Flair also is launching once-weekly nonstops this week between TIA and Prince George, British Columbia; and London and Windsor, Ontario.
A planned nonstop to Lethbridge, Alberta, was dropped due to a lack of needed equipment at the airport there.
Flairβs Tucson nonstops β except for Edmonton, the only flights to a U.S. city for the other five Canadian airports β are expected to provide warm refuge from the cold and a shot in the arm for local tourism.
Sixty-two passengers were welcomed at the Tucson International Airport with goodies and a mariachi band after traveling on the inaugural flight of Flair Airlines from Edmonton International Airport to Tucson on Nov. 30.
βExpanding service for more Canadian cities to fly to Tucson is a critical part of our overarching mission to make travel more accessible to Canadians,β Flair CEO Stephen Jones said.
The Flair flights also will be the first commercial international flights out of TIA since Mexican carrier Aeromar dropped flights to Hermosillo in 2017 after a short run, though many private flights and cargo loads clear customs through Tucson.
The airport worked with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to renovate the federal inspection station at TIAβs Concourse A, where Flair is operating, to clear passengers from the Canadian airports it will serve, except for Edmonton International, where passengers are pre-cleared by U.S. Customs officers.
With the addition of the Flair flights, TIA will serve nonstops to 22 destinations in the U.S. and Canada, after that number dropped to 15 amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Check out some of the seasonal nonstop flights returning to Tucson International Airport this winter.
