Pandemic be damned.
As much as COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the travel industry over the last 20 months or so, new airlines nonetheless are popping up in the U.S.
On Sunday, the third regional or budget carrier to launch this year made its debut when Aha! took to the air.
Aha! is an acronym for "air hotel adventure."
A regional carrier serving primarily the western U.S., Aha! is based at Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Nevada. Its debut flight took off on Sunday, October 24, headed from Reno to Pasco/Tri-Cities Airport, the largest airport that serves southeast Washington state and northeast Oregon.
Like budget carriers Breeze and Avelo, which also debuted this year, Aha! plans to use smaller, underserved airports. It will use 50-passenger Embraer jets from its parent company, ExpressJet, also a regional carrier that recently lost its affiliate contract with United Airlines, according to Forbes.
ExpressJet Airlines also plans to reboot as well starting with the AHA! initiative.
"As ExpressJet began developing post-COVID flying opportunities that fit our history of serving smaller communities with regional aircraft, we realized that the old adage of 'getting there is half the fun' has become 'just getting there burns up half the vacation'," ExpressJet CEO Subodh Karnik said in a statement. "With so many under-served communities and the allure of Reno-Tahoe, the aha! brand model practically leapt at us."
AHA! will serve eight cities initially -- Pasco/Tri-Cities, Wash., Bakersfield, Calif., Medford, Ore., Eugene, Ore., Ontario, Calif., Redmond, Ore., Eureka, Calif., and Fresno/Yosemite, Calif. The airline will serve each of those communities with three weekly flights.
It has plans to expand to 12 more destinations next year.
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