Airline to offer charter flights between Las Vegas, SoCal

A small California airline will offer public charter flights — a type of scheduled air service — between Las Vegas and Carlsbad, Calif., north of San Diego.

BizAir Shuttle’s target market will be business travelers when it begins operations between McCarran International Airport and McClellan-Palomar Airport near Carlsbad on July 30.

A spokesman for the airline said Wednesday that BizAir would start Las Vegas operations with three flights a week with plans to expand as the airline grows. The company already offers flights between Carlsbad and Los Angeles International Airport twice a day.

Kevin Wallace said the airline would fly twin-engine, 30-passenger Dornier 328 and 30-passenger Embraer ERJ-135 jets on the route. The one-hour flights will leave Carlsbad at 10:35 a.m., Thursdays, and 12:35 p.m., Fridays and Sundays, with returns leaving Las Vegas at 12:35 p.m., Thursdays, and 2:35 p.m., Fridays and Sundays.

The airline’s website lists fares ranging from $169 to $229 one way on the route.

Wallace said BizAir is in the process of securing interline agreements with other airlines so that travelers can connect on flights through Las Vegas without having to recheck baggage.

In Las Vegas, flights will arrive and depart from McCarran’s D gates with check-in and baggage claim in Terminal 3.

The major difference between public charters and scheduled air service is in how flights are sold and how fares are collected by the charter company. Seats are available to the public in the same way airlines sell them to their customers.

Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter. Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.