Airline starts Austin non-stop flights at Little Rock airport

Via Airlines, a Florida-based budget carrier, will mark its start of daily non-stop service between Little Rock and Austin, Texas, with the traditional water cannon salute today at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field.

The flights on the 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145 began Sunday and will run daily except Saturday.

The service between the two state capitals is the third new service inaugurated in 2018 at the state's largest airport. Frontier Airlines began offering nonstop service to Denver on March 1, and American Airlines started nonstop service to Washington, D.C., on April 3.

Via also represents what is considered the fourth budget airline to begin service at Clinton National. It joins Southwest Airlines, Allegiant Air and Frontier. Legacy airlines at the airport include American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.

The water cannon salute, which is scheduled to take place between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., is a traditional way to mark a new airline at an airport. It typically involves two firefighting vehicles stationed on either side of an aircraft spraying arches of water as it arrives or departs an airport.

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