Carlsbad-to-L.A. Commuter Flights to Start March 12 : Aviation: It’s been nine years since such a service has been offered from Palomar Airport. Whether passengers materialize remains to be seen.

Although seven other firms have tried and failed, a small Las Vegas-based airline announced Friday it will begin commuter flights between Carlsbad and Los Angeles--the first such service in nine years.

Grand Airways has obtained a three-year permit from San Diego County to start operating March 12 with up to six daily round-trip flights between Palomar Airport and Los Angeles International, and one weekend flight to Las Vegas and back.

The airline said that at first four daily round-trip flights will be offered, with two classes of fares for the 45-minute one-way trip between Carlsbad and Los Angeles set at $49 or $69. One-way tickets to Las Vegas will cost $69 or $89.

Since Palomar Airport opened in 1960, seven airlines have attempted to provide North County’s growing population with commuter service to Los Angeles, but the firms either couldn’t get started or eventually suspended flights.

“The track record is not that good,” Al Newman, county airports director, said Friday.

Newman, who believes Grand Airways holds promise because it is an experienced carrier, said, “We feel confident they’ll be able to operate. Whether the passengers materialize remains to be seen.”

Under the operating permit, approved by the county Board of Supervisors this week, Grand Airways will use Cessna 402 and Piper Navajo twin-propeller aircraft that seat nine passengers.

“They’re significantly less noisy than the jets that fly out of here,” said Palomar Airport Manager Rick Severson. Grand Airways planes “will be well within the (noise) guidelines we’ve established here.”

The permit only allows Grand Airways to operate between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. “to prevent disturbing the community at odd hours,” said Newman. He said the carrier is further prohibited from doing aircraft maintenance at Palomar, including noisy engine revving.

Departure flights to Los Angeles are scheduled for 7 and 9:30 a.m., and 3 and 5:50 p.m. Return flights will leave Los Angeles at 8:15 a.m. and 12:15, 4:15 and 7:15 p.m.

The weekend run to Las Vegas will leave Palomar at 5:35 p.m. Fridays. The return flight will leave Las Vegas at 2 p.m. Sundays. The flight will take 1 hour and 25 minutes.

Severson said there has been no commuter service to Los Angeles since 1981, when Imperial Airlines stopped operations after two years, “the longest run we had.”

Hopes were raised last year when Orange County-based Resort Commuter Airlines, which contracted with Pan American World Airways and used the name Pan Am Commuter, won a two-year permit to fly from Palomar.

Pan Am Commuter service was to begin last September, but after several delays, the firm filed for bankruptcy in November.

Severson said his airport received 10 to 20 telephone calls a day when Pan Am Commuter was expected to inaugurate service.

“In recent years there appears to be a market developing for commuter flights,” he said.

Grand Airways officials couldn’t be reached for comment Friday. The carrier, which had applied last month for the permit to operate in San Diego County, was formed in 1980, has 35 employees, 14 aircraft, and offers charter flights from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon.