Second Focus City Potential In Sun Country’s ‘Next Iteration’

BOGOTA—On the heels of a financially strong year that saw its revenues top $1 billion for the first time, Sun Country Airlines is eyeing a future that could include a second focus city.

While on track to operate a fleet of 75 aircraft by about late 2026, it currently plans over that period and into 2027 to “keep executing what we’re executing,” said President Dave Davis at Aviation Week Network’s Routes Americas conference here in Bogotá. But, “at some point down the road, the next iteration of the company is probably building out another focus city similar to what Minneapolis is,” he told attendees. “So in other words, it’s not just peak flying at certain times of year, its literally saying it's ‘city xyz,’ we’re going to invest, we’re going to build a brand ... that’s probably the next phase of the company from a scheduled service perspective.”

The airline also sees opportunity in a potential expansion of its international presence to South America. It already operates to Central America, with 66 weekly flights spread across nine destinations for the week commencing March 18.

“I think the opportunity is probably there for us,” Davis said. “South America would definitely be something we would be interested in doing.”

But with its growth having been capped by staffing constraints, particularly a captain upgrade shortage, “we’re picking the next-best market, and so far the next-best market hasn’t been in this region,” he explained.

Now “largely past” its captain upgrade issue, Davis said the airline is “very close to growing as rapidly as we want to grow.”

When it does evaluate South American destinations, Sun Country will review factors including complexity of entering markets, gate availability, operational costs and demand from its origin cities. Fleet decisions would also enter the equation.

“We have [Boeing] 737NGs that are range constrained in some ways,” Davis said, noting Sun Country’s longest flight is its Minneapolis-Aruba route. “You can't get much further than that, with the aircraft that we have … but I think [South American service] is in the consideration set today, it just hasn't risen to the top of the pile.”