Beginning in June, United Airlines will offer seasonal nonstop flights between Houston at Durango-La Plata County Airport.
The service is returning for the first time since United halted seasonal operations to Houston in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
United will operate one flight on Saturday and Sunday from June 24 through Sept. 3 using a 76-seat Embraer E-175 aircraft.
“Airlines frequently look at seasonal flights as an opportunity to either test new markets that are unproven or look at markets that tend to act in a more seasonal way that they see as having year-round potential,” said DRO Aviation Director Tony Vicari.
Houston is the fourth largest origin and destination market for DRO, which means the demand is high for travel to and from the city.
Vicari said United could decide to make service full time if it has exceptional flight occupancy. He said typically flights with an occupancy of 75% to 80% are considered the target for most airlines. Airlines will also evaluate the cost of ticket prices to see the amount of revenue each flight is bringing in.
The flights are offered only on Saturdays and Sundays because those are the days the planes are available.
“Airlines typically allocate their flights in the business markets more strongly during the week,” Vicari said. “And so what often happens on weekends, is that business markets might not have the same level of flight frequencies on those days and end up with some extra aircraft and flight crews that are unallocated.”
That means airlines can offer resources to more tourist-driven markets like Durango. Vicari added that just because direct flights leave only on the weekends, it doesn’t mean people can’t plan their trips to Houston during the week. It just means they will likely have a connecting flight in Denver.
The route is supposed to provide Durango passengers not only with access to Houston but also connections to the Southeastern United States as well as Latin American countries.
Connecting flights to Latin America are offered at other airport hubs such as Phoenix, but Houston offers a larger variety of flights given its geographic location, Vicari said.
He said the return of United’s seasonal flights to Houston is an indication that airlines are starting to recover from the travel impacts of the pandemic.
“We hope that the public sees the usefulness of this and sees that we potentially see strong demand for it through the summer,” he said.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
