Swoop Launches New Service At St. Pete-Clearwater Int’l Airport

CLEARWATER, FL — St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport will celebrate the arrival of the inaugural flight of Swoop Airlines, the airport's first international flight since 2020.

The flight's arrival from Toronto at 4:30 p.m. Friday will be greeted with a water cannon welcome along with comments from Bert van der Stege, Swoop Airlines head of commercial and finance, and Tom Jewsbury, director of St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport.

In August, Swoop, Canada's leading ultra-low-cost carrier, unveiled plans to add three new U.S. destinations to its network with non-stop flights to St. Pete-Clearwater (PIE), San Diego (SAN), and Orlando Sanford (SFB) beginning this winter.

"Swoop is celebrating three years of bringing ultra-low fares to Canadians and we are thrilled to continue expanding on our success with the introduction of San Diego, Orlando Sanford and St. Pete-Clearwater to our network," said van der Stege. "We are pleased to be providing our travelers looking to explore the U.S. this winter with even more choice and affordable options."

The addition of the three new sun destinations to Swoop's network comes as the airline celebrates its third anniversary of flying. Since introducing the ultra-low-cost air travel model in Canada, the airline has served three million travelers, establishing itself as the ultra-low-cost carrier of choice for Canadians.

With non-stop flights and its proximity to Tampa Bay, Swoop's service to St. Pete-Clearwater will begin on Nov. 5 from Toronto and on Nov. 9 from Hamilton.

"We are excited to welcome Canada based Swoop to our family of airlines," said Jewsbury. "Canadians will have a convenient, non-stop option to fly to our award-winning destination from Toronto and Hamilton, Canada. Being one of only a few of Swoop's U.S. destinations, we are confident that sunny St. Pete-Clearwater area will be a popular one. We want to thank our partners at Visit St. Pete/Clearwater and Volaire Aviation for helping us make this possible."

Additionally, last month Allegiant announced a new nonstop route to St. Petersburg-Clearwater from Akron, Ohio, beginning March 4.

“St. Pete-Clearwater is one of the most popular destinations in Allegiant’s network,” said Drew Wells, Allegiant’s senior vice president of revenue and network planning. “This new route will give our customers in Northeast Ohio an affordable, convenient travel option for their vacations to one of the hottest markets in Florida.”

Allegiant provides nonstop flights without the hassle of layovers or connections and convenient access through smaller airports, Wells said.

The new nonstop route from Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) to St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) will operate twice a week. Flight days, times and the lowest fares can be found here.

See related story: Swoop Announces New Destinations Ahead Of 3rd Anniversary