Another airline is adding service at Fresno airport. Where will it fly?
The travel industry is continuing to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic, and Fresno Yosemite International Airport is one of the beneficiaries of that recovery.
Delta Air Lines is the latest airline to announce an expansion of service in the Fresno market. The company said Friday that it will begin offering Saturday nonstop flights to and from Seattle. Delta will join Alaska Airlines in providing nonstop passenger service from the San Joaquin Valley to the Pacific Northwest.
The flights start May 29, the airline said in a statement. “Customers wanting convenient access to Yosemite National Park and other attractions in the Sierra Nevada can take advantage” of the new service from Seattle,” the company’s announcement stated.
Delta’s Fresno routes include four daily nonstop flights to and from Salt Lake City, Utah, and one daily nonstop between Fresno and Los Angeles International Airport.
The airline did not provide details on the schedule, the type of aircraft or number of seats available on each flight, or the potential for the one-day-a-week service to expand to greater frequency. Alaska Airlines operates three nonstop flights daily between Fresno and Seattle.
As of Friday morning, the nonstop Fresno-Seattle service was not yet loaded into Delta’s online reservation system.
A string of expansions
Delta’s announcement follows a decision in late 2020 by Southwest Airlines – long coveted by Fresno city leaders and travelers – to enter the Fresno market with daily nonstop flights to Denver and Las Vegas starting in April.
American Airlines is another airline expanding its offerings in Fresno, with once-daily nonstop flights to and from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on a seasonal basis starting June 3 and continuing through Sept. 7.
And last fall, Volaris added twice-weekly nonstop round trips between Fresno and Mexico City.
Kevin Meikle, airports director for the city of Fresno, said that passenger traffic through Fresno Yosemite International Airport was down as much as 95% last spring and summer as airlines abbreviated their schedules and curtailed flights to cope with decreased travel demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 11:58 AM.
