SkyWest adds 2nd daily flight between Phoenix and St. George

An American Eagle passenger jet takes off, date and location not specified | Photo courtesy of SkyWest Airlines, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Due to heavy demand, SkyWest will begin offering a second daily flight from St. George Regional Airport to Phoenix, Arizona.

The new round-trip flight will begin lifting off March 5. Flight reservations are already offered.

“We are introducing that second flight on a seasonal basis as we determine long-term plans for the service,” SkyWest spokesman Layne Watson said.

In this November 2016 file photo, a Canadair Regional Jet is given a water cannon send-off by St. George Fire and St. George Airport engines before its inaugural flight to Phoenix, Arizona, St. George Regional Airport, Utah, Nov. 4, 2016 | Photo by Joseph Witham, St. George News

SkyWest Airlines launched the new American Airlines flight from St. George Regional Airport to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Nov. 4, 2016. The inaugural flight was filled to capacity and sent off with a traditional water cannon salute.

See more: SkyWest flies inaugural American Airlines flight from St. George to Phoenix.

SkyWest has again partnered with American Airlines to provide the additional daily flight to Phoenix, joining existing partnerships with Delta and United for flights to Denver and Salt Lake City.

Since the new destination was added, the flight has been in heavy demand.

“It hasn’t necessarily been in planning,” Watson said, “but everything goes based off demand, and that demand for St. George to Phoenix has been really strong since we introduced the service in November. That’s where the second flight came in.”

The Phoenix destination adds significantly to the airport’s reach.

“American is the largest carrier in the world and it offers more than 300 departures and about 79 destinations around the world,” Watson said, “and that’s out of Phoenix alone.”

The list of destinations grows significantly when the Salt Lake City and Denver flights are factored in.

“It’s just a fantastic opportunity for all the citizens of not just St. George but really southwest Utah to be able to get to over a thousand destinations from those three airports,” St. George Mayor Jon Pike said of the new route on the day of its inaugural flight.

The city had been banking on the new destination’s success, budgeting $250,000 for SkyWest to help cover possible losses for the flight’s first year of operation with an additional $100,000 committed by the Washington County Commission.

Any fears that the flight would result in a loss have apparently been allayed with demand calling for a second flight.

“At this point, they haven’t asked us for any of it,” Pike said in reference to the quarter million-dollar backstop.

“It’s in the interest of the community, in terms of economic development, to have more flights to more destinations,” the mayor said.

The $160 million facility has seen steady year-over-year growth in passenger boarding rates since it opened in 2010, accommodating nearly 80,000 passengers from October 2015 to September 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

“I’m hoping that as people get used to flying more out of and into St. George, it will sort of prime the pump for additional flights to the same locations and to others,” Pike said. “Maybe in subsequent years, we might be able to see a connection to California, not sure which city or which airline, but that would be nice.”

The approximately hourlong flight will be operated by SkyWest utilizing the 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet, and customers may book flights online at www.aa.com or by calling American Airline reservations at telephone 800-433-7300.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

5 Comments

  • wilbur January 21, 2017 at 6:05 pm

    A flight to L.A. would be nice; Phoenix and Denver, meh.

  • digger January 22, 2017 at 5:47 am

    Who Cares! Its To Much Money!! The Costs to Fly Out of St George Support Three Shuttle Companies That Take You In Luxury To Vegas.
    And, Your Mayer Doesn’t Care! Told me It was affordable but I think He forgot That when He Fly’s Its On The Cities Dime Not His.

  • Be Happy January 22, 2017 at 9:29 am

    If we had a real St. George Regional Airport not St. Skywest Regional Airport, where the employees fill the seats for free, leaving the rest to pay top dollar.

  • comments January 22, 2017 at 11:29 am

    Until they kill skywest’s little monopoly and get a real airline there’s really no point in that airport.

    • .... January 22, 2017 at 1:30 pm

      The butthurt runs deep on this one. You want some crying towels cry baby

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.