GRAND FORKS — Flights from Grand Forks to Las Vegas have returned to Grand Forks International Airport, and options to Orlando are expected to be available starting sometime in February.
Also, flights to Mesa will resume in November.
In May, flights to Las Vegas through Allegiant
following systemwide adjustments for Allegiant, which merged with Sun Country earlier this year. Grand Forks Airport Authority Executive Director Ryan Riesinger
told county commissioners in April
the Las Vegas flights were expected to return in September. The Allegiant website shows booking options available now; the first flight was Thursday, Sept. 3.
Starting dates for Mesa and Orlando have not yet been officially announced, but Riesinger on Monday confirmed their expected return.
Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski said the return of Las Vegas flights and the addition of the Orlando flights are both good news, but he still has bigger hopes for the future of the airport.
“It’s still not the big nugget; the big nugget still is getting another major carrier here on those daily, continuous routes,” he said. “That’s really what’s going to open up travel for everybody and keep people from leaving Grand Forks and going to other airports for air service.”
Bochenski and the Air Service Expansion Committee have been working to expand air service at the airport since 2023, with their biggest goal being to add daily connecting flights to Denver. Those likely would be offered through United Airlines, but other airlines, particularly American Airlines, also have been considered.
The city and the Air Service Expansion Committee are still working with Meehan Aviation Group, hired as a consultant in 2024, to expand service.
Previously, an update on the status of Denver flights was thought to come in June, during an air service conference held in Chicago. Had the flights been announced then, they would have been added to Grand Forks’ schedule in fall or winter.
“It’s been quite the delay, so I’m not really happy sitting around waiting on others. But that’s where we’re at right now,” Bochenski said.
He added that he and the committee check in on the status of the added flights “periodically,” but no confirmation has been made yet.
“We keep kind of hearing, ‘It’s not a matter of if, it’s more of a matter of when.’ But until we know, I’m not counting my chickens until they’ve hatched,” he said.
A fourth daily flight to Minneapolis through Delta Air Lines was introduced in April.
The airport previously received a $1 million small community air service grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help with integrating additional flights at the airport.
Federal lawmakers Sens. Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven and Rep. Julie Fedorchak have expressed their support for additional air service, and
local business leaders are hopeful
that additional flights will add more competition with other airports, like Hector International Airport in Fargo, to push down pricing for flights and improve travel options for Grand Forks-area residents.
Jordan Rusche is the government reporter for the Grand Forks Herald.