Airline to offer nonstop flights from Bob Hope Airport to San Diego

A regional airline will start offering nonstop flights from Bob Hope Airport in Burbank to San Diego on Oct. 1.

A regional airline will start offering nonstop flights from Bob Hope Airport in Burbank to San Diego on Oct. 1.

SeaPort Airlines, which already has daily round-trip flights from Burbank to El Centro, will fly four times a day during the week to and from San Diego International Airport with one roundtrip on Saturdays and two on Sundays.

Flights will take about 65 minutes gate-to-gate and be made aboard a Cessna 208 Caravan, which can carry up to nine passengers and two crew members.

“We’re targeting the business traveler here,” said Tim Sieber, executive vice president of the airline, adding that patrons of airlines often requested to have the option to fly to Burbank instead of Los Angeles International Airport.

Bob Hope Airports had flights to San Diego until the late 1980s, when Pacific Southwest Airlines dissolved to become part of U.S. Airways.

If demand continues, SeaPort could add more San Diego flights out of Burbank down the road and possibly other U.S. cities by sometime in 2015, Sieber said.

Lucy Burghdorf, public relations manager at Bob Hope Airport, said giving passengers a new option for getting to San Diego is more important than a small number of additional passengers could generate in terms of revenue.

“The value is in the service,” she said.

The introductory fare for the Burbank-to-San Diego flights will be $77.50 each way, including taxes and fees, for travel during October. The number of seats and nonrefundable tickets for that fare are limited and must be purchased by Sept. 15.