Sun Country opens base at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, eyes growth of scheduled services from CVG

Sun Country Airlines has announced that it will open a new operational base at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) in 2026, which will support its growing cargo operations on behalf of Amazon Air. The e-commerce giant’s air cargo hub is located at the airport, yet Sun Country Airlines said that the new base should support its scheduled passenger service growth plans.

On December 2, 2025, Sun Country Airlines confirmed that starting January 31, 2026, it will officially open an operating base at CVG, also pointing out that it has been actively hiring pilots at the airport.

CVG, a hub for Amazon Air, is “one of the fastest-growing cargo airports in the country, and the surrounding region has strong passenger demand, which positions Sun Country for seamless future expansion in scheduled service,” the airline said.

The carrier added that the base will serve as the primary location where its cargo aircraft, operating flights on behalf of Amazon Air, will begin and end their day, with local crews also being stationed at CVG.

According to planespotters.net, Sun Country Airlines has 20 Boeing 737-800 converted freighters that it flies on behalf of Amazon Air. The latter itself has a total of 29 737-800Fs, with eight and one operated by ASL Airlines Ireland and India-based QuickJet Airlines, respectively.

A further 10 A330-300F converted freighters are flown by Hawaiian Airlines, and 59 767-300 converted freighters are operated by 21 Air (seven), ABX Air (nine), Air Transport International (ATI, 41), and Cargojet Airways (two).

Sun Country Airlines itself has 45 passenger 737-800s, as well as two 737-900ER aircraft.

Jude Bricker, the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sun Country Airlines, stated that growing the airline beyond its current hub, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), has long been the airline’s goal.

“Amazon and our cargo operation is a critical segment of our differentiated business model and enables our scheduled service seasonal flexibility, and growth.”

Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that Sun Country Airlines’ only scheduled passenger flights from CVG have been to MSP over the past few years, with the carrier running a seasonal itinerary between the two airports.

Its last flight from MSP to CVG landed on November 30, with the aircraft that operated the itinerary, a 737-800 registered as N824SY, returning to MSP on the same day. Per Cirium’s Diio Mi, Sun Country Airlines should return to CVG with scheduled flights to MSP in May 2026.

During the upcoming summer season, Sun Country Airlines has so far scheduled only a handful of routes that do not start or end at MSP in June 2026, per Cirium’s Diio Mi.

In the first nine months of 2025, Sun Country Airlines’ operating revenues were $845.8 million, of which $106.9 million was attributed to cargo operations, according to the company’s Q3 results, issued on October 29.

The airline ended the nine-month period with a net profit $44.6 million, an improvement of 13.2% year-on-year (YoY).

“The quarter marked a significant operational milestone as the company completed its cargo segment transformation,” Bricker said, adding that by September, Sun Country Airlines had deployed its full fleet of 20 737-800Fs on behalf of Amazon Air, an expansion of 14% YoY in operating aircraft.