Santa Fe, NM - At a morning press conference in the Community Gallery, Mayor Gonzales announced that beginning December 15, 2016, American Airlines will launch new service, running once a day in each direction between the Santa Fe Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

The tentative schedule is for the flight to depart Phoenix at 9:45 am and arriving in Santa Fe at 11:14 am, with 70 available seats.

"Building an economy for all Santa Feans continues to be one of our top priorities - and daily service throughout the western region is central to that effort. From the film industry to tourism and technology, every sector stands to benefit." said Mayor Javier M. Gonzales. He added, "We've plugged Santa Fe into cities up and down the West coast while at the same time adding a partner, in Phoenix, that is a vibrant city with millions of people and many attractions as a destination for Northern New Mexicans."

Cameron Humphres, the City's Airport Manager said, "Our goal is to become the airport of choice and a strong economic engine for the City of Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico. The more choices we offer our customers the more we can build on that effort, certainly in tourism but just as much in businesses like the film industry. So we look forward to what we believe will be a successful daily service to a dynamic city Phoenix that serves as a key link to the West coast."

This service is made possible thanks to the hard work of the Northern New Mexico Airport Alliance, a partnership of public and private stakeholders that are contributing funds to match federal and state air service development grants. The Alliance objective is to improve air service in Santa Fe through airline incentives and marketing initiatives. Current Alliance partners include Tourism Santa Fe, Santa Fe Chamber, Santa Fe County, Taos Ski Valley, and Angle Fire Resort.

"This is very good news for Santa Fe" says Simon Brackley, President and CEO of the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce. "Daily service will connect Santa Fe to the Phoenix hub to access the West coast and bring Phoenicians easily to Santa Fe. The service will benefit hospitality, business and government throughout northern New Mexico. We invite all air service users to support the Northern New Mexico Air Alliance and Fly Santa Fe!"

Randy Randall, TOURISM Santa Fe Director, said, "It is exciting to see success from the Northern New Mexico Air Alliance at this early stage. This proves that with the right resources to support the addition of flights and a unified effort from the stakeholders in Northern New Mexico, there is a willingness on the part of airlines to provide new service directly into Santa Fe. This sort of proactive effort will allow the Santa Fe Airport to grow on a relatively conservative basis and allow it to better serve both tourism and residential needs.

Tickets will go on sale starting Monday, September 5th.

For more information on the Northern New Mexico Air Alliance, please contact Simon Brackley the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce. 505-988-3279