Sun Country Airlines, the USA's second largest passenger charter carrier, plans to become a low fare scheduled airline in June.
The move by the Minneapolis/St Paul-based airline will be a thorn in the side of incumbent rival Northwest Airlines. The airport is Northwest's most important hub, and the US major is still recovering from the effects of its 15-day pilots' strike in 1998, which resulted in the carrier losing not only $286 million during the year, but passenger loyalty as well.
The family owned carrier expects to offer daily services to such major US cities as Boston, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC.
Source: Flight International