Thursday, February 10, 2005
Los Angeles less than two hours away starting in April
by Diane M. Batley
The Eureka (CA) Reporter
The Q-400 airplane will seat 70 passengers and non-stop flights to Los Angeles are estimated to take one hour and 40 minutes. Up, up and away to Los Angeles from McKinleyville will become a reality when new flight routes begin at the Arcata/Eureka Airport on April 25.
Horizon Air will offer two flights per day – one direct and one with a stop in Redding – to and from Los Angeles and each flight will able to carry 70 passengers on a Q-400 twin-engine propeller airplane.
“I’m so happy that we have finally been able to announce this,” said Jacquelyn Hulsey, Humboldt County airport manager.
It took two years of planning to make this possible, Hulsey said.
Representatives from the county and city of Eureka were present for the announcement made on Feb. 7 at the airport by Dan Russo, director of marketing and communications for Horizon Air.
The new flights are expected to accommodate business travelers and encourage tourism to this area.
The new service was made possible through a $500,000 grant sponsored by the Humboldt County Aviation Division through the Department of Transportation’s Small Community Air Service Development Pilot Program, according to a news release.
By different agencies working together, the new flights became possible, Russo said.
“You should all congratulate yourselves on this wonderful step forward in air travel,” he said. “We couldn’t have done this without your support. Use the flight.”
Horizon is offering introductory fare rates of $69 each way for direct service to Los Angeles for travel between April 25 and June 10.
Direct flights to Los Angeles will take one hour and 40 minutes, according to a news release.
Horizon Air also offers service between the Arcata/Eureka Airport and Portland, Ore., and Seattle, Wash.
Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group Inc.
“In 2004, Horizon’s average on-time performance exceeded that of all major continental U.S. airlines tracked by the Department of Transportation,” according to the news release.
United Airlines is the other carrier that currently serves the Arcata/Eureka Airport. Its flight destinations between the Arcata/Eureka Airport include Portland, Ore., Sacramento and San Francisco.
