Delta starts nonstop Tampa to Cancun flights

Associated Press file photo (2009)

Tampa-area residents looking for a wintertime beach getaway can fly nonstop to Cancun, Mexico, on Delta Airlines starting in February. Several airlines have tried offering flights to the Mexican resort city from Tampa International Airport over the past several years, but service hasn't been consistently available.

By TBO.COM | Staff
Published: August 20, 2010

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TAMPA --

Delta Air Lines will begin Saturday nonstop flights between Tampa International Airport and Cancun, Mexico, on Feb 19, the airline announced today.

Tickets will be on sale Saturday. Prices were not immediately available for the new service.

Delta will use 142-seat MD-88 aircraft, with 14 first class and 128 economy seats.

Delta will become the sixth airline to attempt to make Tampa-Cancun flights a success since the 1980s.

JetBlue flew between the two cities between late 2008 and 2009, when a swine flu outbreak in Mexico curtailed travel demand and the carrier curtailed service.

Hurricane Wilma's destruction of Cancun hotels in 2005 forced Spirit Airlines to change its plans, and Spirit's later service lasted only a few months.

AirTran Airways also applied for rights to serve Cancun this decade, but never launched service.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at 813-259-7817.