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While earlier this year, several airlines announced they were canceling flights and sometimes entire routes due to post-pandemic staffing shortages, those days seem to be behind us (thankfully!) and, in fact, the largest airline here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes just announced that it is added seven new flights leaving from Minnesota in 2023.

According to the travel industry site, The Points Guy, Delta Airlines just announced that it will begin service to the following new sites in 2023, all leaving from its hub at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) in Bloomington:

New Delta Flights Leaving From MSP Airport in Minnesota in 2023:

  • Burlington International Airport (BTV) in Vermont.
  • Colorado Springs Airport (COS).
  • Great Falls International Airport (GTF) in Montana.
  • Jackson Hole Airport (JAC) in Wyoming.
  • Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) in Nevada.
  • Richmond International Airport (RIC) in Virginia.
  • Valley International Airport (HRL) near Harlingen, Texas.

That's good news for those of us here in Minnesota with the itch to travel. And, the reason behind these new flights is kind of interesting, too: a corporate rivalry. The Points Guy noted that the addition of these new routes might be Delta's way of 'retaliating' at Minnesota's other hometown airline, Sun Country Airlines, which has recently challenged Delta and is trying to make MSP a two-airline home base.

"We’re trying to turn Minneapolis into a two-airline market," Sun Country CEO Jude Bricker told the Points Guy at the Skift Aviation Forum in Dallas in November. "If you pay with your own money, you fly with Sun Country. If you fly on a corporate contract, you fly Delta," the Points Guy noted.

Whatever the reason, I'm glad that both Delta and Sun Country are adding flights and routes, instead of ending routes leaving from Minnesota (as THIS airline did earlier this year, when it announced it was eliminating several flights from Minnesota to several warm-weather destinations this winter.)

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