US Airline Start-Up Aha! Commences Flight Operations
Originally published on AeroNewsX
This week saw the latest start-up airline in the United States, take to the skies. Based in Nevada, aha! is a leisure brand of the regional carrier, ExpressJet. The new airline will be based at Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) and will eventually serve eight destinations in Oregon, California, and Washington.
The brand, whose name stands for ‘air-hotel-adventure,’ will use Embraer 145 regional jets provided by ExpressJet Airlines. While the United States has seen numerous airline start-ups in recent months, aha! will be solely based out of Reno-Tahoe and “plans to reach 20 western U.S. cities” over the coming months.
Aha!'s livery on one of ExpressJet Airlines Embraer E145s. Photo by ExpressJet Airlines.
Aha!’s inaugural service took place earlier this week. The airline has stated that it will only serve destinations on the West Coast of the United States. Aha! operated its inaugural flight to Pasco Tri-Cities Airport (PSC) in Washington. Flight EV7082 departed Reno Tahoe at 14:37 local time and landed at 15:43 and plans to operate this flight three times weekly.
Aha! has large ambitions for its flights to the West Coast and according to a statement from the airline, its second destination will be Bakersfield, California. Then on October 31st, the airline will commence flights to Medford, Oregon.
The following month, aha! will add its remaining five destinations within the first 10 days of November. The first week will see the airline add Eugene, Oregon (commencing November 1st), Ontario, California ( commencing November 4th), and Redmond, Oregon ( commencing November 5th). The airline will start service to its final two Californian destinations on November 9th to Eureka and Fresno a day later on November 10th.
To celebrate its launch, aha! is offering passengers reduced fares for its first two months of commercial operations. The airline has stated that one-way ticket prices will start from USD$49 for passengers who book by November 15th for flights up until December 23rd.
