Canadian airline adds St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport to its network

Canadian airline Swoop will now have connections to the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport. 

Swoop, Canada’s leading ultra-low-cost carrier, unveiled additional details about its plans to add three new U.S. destinations to its network with nonstop flights to St. Pete-Clearwater, San Diego and Orlando Sanford beginning this winter.

Related: Airline Swoop adds connections between St. Pete and Canada

Nonstop flights from Swoop will begin on Nov. 5 from Toronto Pearson International Airport and on Nov. 9 from John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport, according to the airport’s release.

“Canadians will have a convenient, nonstop option to fly to our award-winning destination from Toronto and Hamilton, Canada, and many will want to visit as the borders reopen. Being one of only a few of Swoop’s U.S. destinations, we are confident that sunny St. Pete-Clearwater area will be a popular one,” St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport Director Tom Jewsbury said in a prepared statement. 

He credited the destination marketing organizations Visit St. Pete/Clearwater and Indiana-based Volaire Aviation, an air space recruitment firm, in helping secure the airline. 

Tampa International Airport has existing nonstop connections through Swoop. 

Local Tampa Bay area airport executives have said that Canada is the largest international market for Florida travelers. 

Canada recently eased its travel restrictions, allowing travel for fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. It’s currently unknown if the recent uptick in Covid cases in Florida will have an impact on airlines. 

The scheduled winter flights between Toronto and PIE will be offered three times a week, on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays. Meanwhile, the flights between Hamilton and PIE will only be offered twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays.