The Flagstaff Airport welcomed its first regularly scheduled main-fleet jetliner on Thursday.
Flagstaff airport is one of the only commercial airports in northern Arizona. Commercial airlines have operated from Flagstaff for several decades, but for the first time, passengers will be able to fly to and from Flagstaff on a main-fleet airliner.
American Airlines upgraded its regional service between Flagstaff and Dallas from a Canadian regional jet CRJ 700 to an Airbus A319.
The A319 is a larger aircraft with more passenger capacity. The aircraft operates more efficiently at high-altitude airports than smaller, regional aircraft.
Brian Gall is the Flagstaff airport director.
“This Airbus A319 is going to be our first mainline aircraft, meaning the first aircraft that is actually owned and operated by American Airlines, and even has like an American Airlines call sign while it's in the air,” Gall said. “So it's really the next evolution for passenger comfort and passenger features here at Flagstaff.”
Gall says as recently as 2019, the airport was being serviced by planes with only 50 seats, but it is now being serviced by planes with over 150 seats.
“There are a bunch of different air carriers and different aircraft manufacturers out there at this point, but Airbus is definitely one of the biggest,” Gall said. “This is what they call a narrow body aircraft, but as you mentioned, a little bit more typical for what passengers might be expecting with those three seats on each side of the aisle for the main cabin portion of it.”
Gall says crews painted new markings and upgraded ground handling equipment to accommodate the larger aircraft.
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