Reno air service coming to Pasco

By Terry Murry on Tuesday, October 5th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News Columbia Basin Top Stories

RENO – A new airline will begin flying from its home base at Reno-Tahoe International Airport to Pasco on Oct. 24. aha! Airlines chose Tri-Cities Airport because it does not currently have nonstop service to Reno-Tahoe International Airport. The nonstop flight also eliminates the need for time-consuming connections at crowded hubs.

Later this month and in November, aha! Airlines will also begin service to and from three cities in Oregon: Medford/Ashland (Oct. 31), Eugene/Springfield (Nov. 1) and Redmond/Bend (Nov. 5).

The new airline will serve each community three times a week with 50-seat regional jets. aha! is powered by ExpressJet Airlines, which has provided air service to hundreds of smaller cities in the U.S. for 35 years.

ExpressJet was once owned by Continental Airlines, and most recently operated for United as a regional carrier. Last year, United ended its relationship with ExpressJet as it downsized some of its regional carriers due to the pandemic. Instead of going belly up, ExpressJet has renamed itself aha!, which is based in at the Reno-Tahoe airport. The name stands for air, hotel, adventure. There are future plans for aha! to partner with resorts and casinos to offer vacation bundles.