New Airline Taking Flight This Week From Tri-Cities

The Tri-Cities Airport is planning a celebration this Thursday, February 15th, alongside the maiden flight for the newest airline to fly in and out of Pasco.

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We have been following this story at Newsradio 610 KONA since 2022 when the announcement came that the airport in Pasco (PSC in airport code) received $750,000 in funding from the Federal Government to pursue a route to Dallas-Fort Worth airport in Texas.

Then last summer we revealed a new airline ready to partner with Tri-Cities airport, but not on a route to Dallas-Fort Worth, but to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.  That partner has a hub in Dallas-Fort Worth so it is reasonable to believe that, at some point soon, that route will become a reality...but no need to get too far ahead of ourselves just yet.

This celebration is a culmination of all the hard work to get to this point.  The airport announced in a press release that Thursday will be American Airlines first flight out of Tri-Cities to Phoenix.

A ribbon cutting will take place just after 1pm, followed by a water cannon salute, which is an aviation tradition for first and last flights of an airline at an airport as well as pilot and air traffic controller retirements.  if you've never seen a water cannon salute you can watch one below.

The maiden flight on the E75-Embraer 175 is expected to take off around 2:20pm.  Tri-Cities Airport recently announced a record amount of passengers in 2023, eclipsing the mark set in 2019 pre-COVID.