United Plans Nonstop San Fran Flights

United Airlines will start daily, nonstop service from Tucson to San Francisco International Airport on Oct. 31 aboard Canadair regional jets, the Tucson Airport Authority said Tuesday.

No airline currently offers nonstop service from Tucson to the Bay Area.

The United flight will leave Tucson International Airport at 6:15 a.m., arriving in San Francisco at 7:25 a.m. The return flight will leave San Francisco at 6:15 p.m. and arrive in Tucson at 9:25 p.m.

The round-trip fare for the nonstop Tucson-San Francisco flight with a four-day weekday stay was listed at about $309 on United’s Web site Tuesday.

United has 13 other daily departures from Tucson to Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and Phoenix.

The new flight to San Francisco will give Tucson critical access to the Silicon Valley market, Tucson Airport Authority CEO Bonnie Allin said.

“Our understanding is that it’s not a seasonal flight, that it’s going to be year-round,” Allin said.

Horizon Air, part of Alaska Airlines, began operating a nonstop daily flight from Tucson to San Jose, Calif., in 2002 but dropped that flight in June 2004, citing low demand.

Meanwhile, a nonstop flight to Chicago Midway Airport that Southwest Airlines launched earlier this month has been a hit, Allin said.

“So far, we heard it’s great. They’re really happy with it,” she said.