4 New Nonstop Flights at Sonoma County Airport

Starting May 1, you’ll be able to visit these four cities via nonstop flights to and from the Sonoma County Airport: Kalispell, Montana; Boise, Idaho; Salem, Oregon; and Pasco, Washington. Each route will run twice a week to start. Tickets are on sale now, for as cheap as $62 a pop. The flights are operated by Avelo Airlines, the budget option at STS, which already offers four nonstop flights to and from our local airport — one to Redmond, Oregon, near Bend; one to Burbank, California, where the airline is based; one to Palm Springs, California; and one to Vegas. “This is the single largest announcement of new destinations at one time in the airport’s history,” airport officials say in a press release just issued by the county. The other cities where we can currently fly nonstop, via Alaska and American Airlines, are Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego in California; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Phoenix, Arizona; and Dallas, Texas, at certain times of year. Avelo Airlines announced earlier this year that they planned to open a large “base” at STS in May. Word is the base will house two planes — Boeing Next-Generation 737s, which they’ll reportedly use for the new routes — and serve as headquarters for up to 50 crewmembers they’ll be hiring, including “pilots, flight attendants and aviation maintenance technicians.” Which means a bunch of new airline-industry jobs for our area. The head of Avelo, a guy named Andrew Levy, adds in the latest press release: “Sonoma County Airport is by far the Bay Area’s best airport — its small, smooth and seamless travel experience is unmatched by any other airport in the region. This is why we are doubling the number of nonstop destinations Avelo offers from STS. With eight popular nonstop routes spanning the West Coast, Avelo makes getting to and from the Bay Area and California Wine Country more affordable and easier than ever. These new routes are just a preview of the exciting opportunities ahead for Avelo when our new STS base opens in May.” (Source: Avelo & STS via Facebook & Sonoma County Government & PR Newswire & Press Democrat; paywall)