The San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport has a new airline and non-stop destination on the way.
People will soon be able to hop on a direct flight to Las Vegas and travelers are happy they will no longer have to make a pit stop somewhere else first.
Starting in October, Contour Airlines will offer non-stop flights from the San Luis Obispo airport to America’s adult playground, whether they’re going for work or play.
“The most challenging part is, I travel a lot for work and there’s conferences in Vegas, is having to go somewhere else just to go to Vegas or you’re kind of like well, I could do that six and a half, seven-hour drive. Now it’s not a question,” said airline traveler Elise Kephart.
The airline will be taking off four times a week and filling the planes likely won’t be a problem.
“It’s about time,” said Kephart.
Fellow traveler Scott Tucker said, “It’s super convenient. Yeah, it’s great.”
The airline will offer $99 tickets for a limited time.
“If you make it easy and affordable for people to get to Vegas, they will take you up on the opportunity to get there,” said Contour Airlines CEO Matt Chaifetz.
While the SLO County airport could see business take off, the Santa Maria Airport could take a hit. Come October, it will no longer be the only airport on the Central Coast offering non-stop service to Las Vegas.
“It is direct competition for us, but I think it’s kind of different packages that we have here. Allegiant has been flying to Vegas for a long time. They have a larger aircraft that they’re able to spread the cost across, so it helps to maintain lower fares,” said Santa Maria Airport General Manager Chris Hastert.
Hastert says it’s too soon to tell how this might impact their business, but he hopes that the Santa Maria airport’s cheaper prices and free parking will make them more desirable for airline travelers.
Contour Airlines will begin their Las Vegas flights from San Luis Obispo starting October 17.
