US Airways Adds New Service from DCA to San Diego

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by ARLnow.com March 22, 2012 at 9:15 am 5,300 45 Comments

As part of its plan to concentrate service at a handful of regional hubs, US Airways will be adding new nonstop fights from Reagan National Airport to 11 cites, including Omaha and Memphis, starting on Sunday.

Yesterday afternoon, however, the airline announced even more nonstop service. Starting this summer, US Airways will be adding daily, nonstop service from DCA to the following six cities:

San Diego
Augusta, Ga.
Fayetteville, Ark.
Minneapolis
Montreal
Toronto

No carrier at Reagan National currently offers direct flights to San Diego, Augusta or Fayetteville. The new service will provide easier access to those traveling to San Diego’s military bases, to next year’s Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, or to the headquarters of Walmart, which is close to Fayetteville’s Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.

Service to San Diego will begin June 8. Service to the other five cities will start July 11.

“US Airways will have a total of 22 new routes from Washington D.C.’s Reagan National beginning this spring and summer,” a US Airways executive said in a press release. “Our growing presence at Reagan National Airport highlights our commitment to connect small, medium and large communities to the nation’s capital. We are excited to provide customers — especially those in communities that currently do not have service — with direct access to Washington’s downtown airport.”

Alicia

Yay! Thank you for making it easier to get home! I am now a fan of US Airways.
JamesE

I was unaware DCA could do “international” flights or do they just not count Canada? Also a friend told me it is significantly cheaper to fly to Vermont and just drive over.
- Smithers
  
  DCA does quite a bit of international flights – mostly to the Carribean. When the flights come back, they have a US Immigration presence at those airports to “pre-clear” you back, since DCA doesn’t have customs / immigration facilities.
- R
  
  There have been “international” non-stops from DCA for quite some time to Bermuda and to the Bahamas…the latter of which I have taken a few times. I’ve flown Air Canada to Toronto from DCA, and I believe they fly direct to Montreal, and Ottawa as well.
- CW
  
  Yes, I’ve flown Air Canada out of DCA. The flight back into DCA is interesting, because DCA has no customs facilities. So they do a super-strict security routine at the Canadian departure location. They have special gate areas that are walled off where, once you go in, you can’t leave except to get on the plane.
  - Loach
    
    Was that recently?
    - OldTimer
      
      Been doing DCA to Toronto for many years.
      - Loach
        
        No, I meant the security measures. That sounds like what all DCA bound flights were going through right after 9-11.
      - CW
        
        Yes, it was last summer. I was chatting with the gate agent on the Canadian side and he stated that for years after 9/11 they stopped all flights to DCA from Canada.
  - WeiQiang
    
    Beyond the security measures, DHS maintains US immigration and customs faclities [staffed by US DHS/ICE employees] in the Canadian airports, including Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Vancouver … maybe others. Passengers essentially enter US territory while still standing at the airport in Canada, thereby – for immigration purposes – making the flights into DCA domestic flights.
  - Vinh An Nguyen
    
    I recently flew from Montreal to DCA and the US Customs facility was at the Canadian airport. Thought that was kinda weird.
- JamesE
  
  ^^^^^ All interesting facts, I did not know. I guess it is time to go to Montreal for the weekend and eat 35 lb of poutine.
  - CW
    
    35 pounds of poutine, 35 pounds of smoked meat, and 3 gallons of Fin du Monde would make for a great weekend.
    - JamesE
      
      I wouldn’t have to worry about the departure security since my body would be in a casket.
    - Chris
      
      Don’t forget some Cheese Curds and Gravy Fries.
      - Ali
        
        That’s what poutine is.
      - Josh S
        
        Is it better than the cheese curds and gravy fries you can get from that one food truck on Franklin Square? Cause that stuff was gross.
      - Loach
        
        Well when you factor in that anything is better than stuff you get from a food truck, your answer would be “yes”.
      - JamesE
        
        Never tried it from them, but poutine is amazing, there are also many variations of it. Only a few places serve it in this area.
      - Josh S
        
        Actually, many of the food trucks in DC are very popular and serve up some tasty stuff. I particularly like the shwarmas. But I’ll take your word for it that poutine in Montreal is better than from a food truck in DC. It has to be.
      - nom de guerre
        
        Back in the day a lot of people referred to food trucks as roach coaches.
- Ballston Irish
  
  I’m actually going to Montreal in April. We found airfare into Montreal was in the $600 range due to taxes and fees they charge. We were able to find airfare for $220 into Burlington and are going to rent a car and drive across the border, its 1.5 to 2 hours to get there. Apparently a lot of people do the same.
  - j
    
    It’s a really nice drive
    - Dan
      
      I’ll ditto that comment…..though April might be a bit early.
nunya

time to book a flight to SD!
DarkHeart

Who needs a direct flight to Fayetteville, AR since the Clintons moved to NY?
- brendan
  
  all the walmart execs coming to check on their new stores…
  - Ben
    
    And ask Congress for favors.
  - DarkHeart
    
    Doesn’t the legacy of Sam Walton require them to travel only by Jed Clampett Jalopies?
  - Ali
    
    And the Duggars and their 87 children.
RJ

But its USAir….
CW

Gosh, I was really losing sleep about how I was going to get to the Master’s without a layover…
Nitin

I wish it was jetBlue or Virgin America offering the new service to San Diego…
- CW
  
  I wish that every airline except JetBlue would go bankrupt, and that JetBlue would buy them for $1 and a Big Mac.
  - WeiQiang
    
    American Airlines is, in fact, on the McDonalds Dollar Value Menu and, at that price, still isn’t a bargain.
    - 22205
      
      USAir seems to have a different opinion than yours. They are talking to AMR about acquisition, after all.
Charles

Thank John McCain … he biasedly pushed for this change in DCA rules years ago.
- Justin Russo
  
  But he was in a North Vietnamese prison, so it’s okay.
- Tabs
  
  I bet he looked angry when he pushed for this change.
CourthouseChris

Fayetteville, AR doesn’t really have an airport – it is primarily served by XNA (the “WalMart” airport). To call XNA Fayetteville is a little odd as there are other towns of note (relative note, this is Arkansas after all) closer to it.

I have to wonder if the article got it wrong and they are adding service to Fayettville, NC Regional airport.
- CourthouseChris
  
  meh, I retract the wonder. Fayetteville is the only town of note because of the University there. They have to be talking about XNA.
  - redstang423
    
    Yes, they are talking about XNA.
Entienne

The trip to Montreal by way of Burlington Vermont is less expensive and if you don’t want the hassle of driving yourself, or renting a car and finding parking in Montreal then the best way we found is to catch a Greyhound bus right at Burlington Airport and it’s non-stop straight to downtown Montreal. (Well, there is one stop at the boarder but we have never had to wait longer than 15 minutes to get through customs).

Wonder what the airfare from DCA directly to Montreal will be like?
- info81
  
  Nice to know.
KRS

I was hoping for a second daily N/S to Vegas, but San Diego isn’t a bad choice.

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