As airport activity continues to ramp up, Sun Country Airlines started its first scheduled passenger service to Canada on Wednesday with twice-weekly flights to Vancouver through September.

"I think it's fantastic," said Maria Sokol of Hurley, Wis. "I'm going to visit family."

Officials from the airport, Canadian consulate and Twin Cities-based Sun Country made remarks before the flight Wednesday morning as travelers enjoyed free doughnuts.

Sun Country is launching service to Burlington, Vt., on Thursday, building on other new routes this year to Buffalo, N.Y., Charleston, S.C., Jacksonville, Fla., Pittsburgh and Spokane, Wash.

The carrier serves 77 airports with 96 routes across the United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and now Canada with the Wednesday and Sunday service to Vancouver.

The Pacific Northwest is a popular destination for summertime travelers and Vancouver is a cosmopolitan West Coast seaport set in a backdrop of mountains. "It's all about where people want to go," said Brian Davis, Sun Country's chief marketing officer.

The expansion represents another step in the return of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to its prepandemic flight levels. Airlines at the airport are now operating 198 routes, with 179 to domestic locations and 19 to places outside the country.

Twenty-four domestic routes remain suspended, chiefly to smaller markets because of staffing shortages. There are five international routes that were suspended in the pandemic that haven't resumed — to Dublin, Ireland; Edmonton, Alberta; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Seoul and Tokyo.

Airport officials said they are hopeful flights to Seoul and Tokyo will return this fall on Delta Air Lines, the Twin Cities dominant carrier. Dublin service is expected to resume next year.

Most recently, Condor started flights to Frankfurt, Germany, and Air Canada began service to Montreal.

Canada, Minnesota's biggest export market, reopened its border to fully vaccinated U.S. leisure travelers in August.

Carl Pilon of the Canadian consulate in Minneapolis emphasized the shared economic and cultural ties as neighbors that are resuming. "Anytime we build connections between the U.S. and Canada, it's good," he said.