Sun Country is betting that winter-weary flyers from the Upper Midwest will be ready for a warm-weather vacation by early 2025.
The Minneapolis-based carrier unveiled this week its latest schedule extension, which includes two new routes to the Caribbean. Specifically, Sun Country will connect Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE) with Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) in the Dominican Republic and Sangster International Airport (MBJ) in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
The Punta Cana route begins Dec. 26, 2024, with twice-weekly service, while the Montego Bay route starts Jan. 25, 2025, with two weekly flights.
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Sun Country will enjoy a monopoly on all its nonstop international routes from Milwaukee, which should help the airline fill its planes.
Additionally, the carrier will resume service from MKE to Mexico’s Cancun International Airport (CUN), a route that it last operated during the previous winter season through April 2024, Cirium schedules show.
In total, Sun Country will operate eight routes from Milwaukee. This includes the aforementioned international service — the largest of any carrier in Milwaukee — along with routes to Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Orlando and Fort Myers, Florida.
The new Milwaukee routes come as Sun Country extends its schedule through April 29, 2025, giving flyers plenty of time to start planning their winter and spring break holidays.
The airline says this schedule from its hometown airport and key hub, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), is its largest ever.
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Sun Country will resume all seasonal MSP routes during the winter while also boosting capacity on existing routes by adding frequencies. (The airline specifically highlighted additional service to Aruba, Grand Cayman, Punta Cana and Roatan, Honduras.)
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The airline will fly to more than 55 destinations from MSP next winter, most of which are popular beach destinations in Florida, the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico. Sun Country is exclusively focused on flying leisure passengers who are heading out on vacation and visiting family and friends. These new routes are in line with the carrier’s network strategy and seemingly well suited to succeed.
“Sun Country is continuing to grow our schedule from MSP to the warm destinations that are most popular with our customers. These are the places our customers love to visit with flights on more days of the week through the season. We’re building on what works well for us and our travelers,” said Grant Whitney, senior vice president and chief revenue officer at Sun Country, in a statement.
Additionally, though Sun Country has historically operated on a budget carrier model, the airline debuted a new mobile app just this week. The app is designed to boost the airline’s digital capabilities and make it easier for travelers to book travel and self-service their reservations.
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