The Tri-Cities can finally book nonstop flights to Los Angeles, starting March 31, 2019.

The Tri-Cities Airport and United Airlines announced the new nonstop service to Los Angeles International Airport on Oct. 15.

Hundreds of travelers from the Tri-City region already travel to the Los Angeles basin every day.

“This is a huge win for the Tri-Cities community,” said Buck Taft, director of the airport. “The L.A. basin is our largest unserved market, and we’ve worked for years to gain this service. We’re grateful to our partners for helping us bring this flight to our community, and look forward to providing quick, easy access to Los Angeles.”

A late-afternoon departure from the Tri-Cities will allow travelers to connect directly to 32 destinations on United, including five in Hawaii, five in Asia and Australia, and four cities in Mexico. Flights will leave at 4:17 p.m., arriving at LAX at 6:48 p.m.

“With this new flight, United connects passengers in the Tri-Cities with dozens of destinations in Asia, the Pacific, Hawaii and all across California,” said Janet Lamkin, United’s California president. “And we are excited to connect the Tri-Cities with the world through our Los Angeles gateway and to bring more Southern Californians to Washington’s wine country.”

Tickets for United Airlines’ daily nonstop flights are available now. Using a 76-seat Embraer 175 aircraft, the flight will offer both a first-class cabin and an economy cabin.

This new service is the result of long-term regional collaboration.

Through an alliance that included the Port of Pasco, TRIDEC, Franklin County, Visit Tri-Cities, Benton County, city of Pasco, city of Kennewick, city of Richland, Port of Kennewick, Port of Benton, Battelle, JUB Engineers, Bechtel, Tri-City Chamber of Commerce, Washington River Protection Solutions and Ti-lite, the airport sought and won a federal Small Community Air Service Development grant.

The local and national support enabled the airport to incentivize United Airlines to begin the service.

“New service to LAX is great news for the Tri-Cities,” said Carl Adrian, president and CEO of TRIDEC. “The local business community has been wanting direct flights to the Los Angeles basin for years so United’s announcement will make a lot of people very happy. TRIDEC has been supporting the Tri-Cities Airport for at least five years in promoting daily flights to Los Angeles so it is a great win for all of us.”

Adrian said he isn’t sure efforts to get the nonstop flight would have been successful without the Small Communities Air Service grant the airport received and the broad base of community support to provide matching funding.

Michael Novakovich, president and CEO of Visit Tri-Cities, agreed. “Nonstop flight service from Los Angeles is a game changer for the Tri-Cities tourism industry. The convenience of a direct flight is a great opportunity for us to increase travel to the Tri-Cities region where visitors can experience our world-class wine country, three majestic rivers and internationally renowned science attractions,” he said.