OXNARD : United Express to Offer Flights to LAX

In what officials label as a sign of a resurrecting economy, a second airline has announced plans to establish flight service from Oxnard Airport to Los Angeles International Airport.

United Express, operated by New Mexico-based Mesa Airlines, will begin service on March 1.

The airline will fly seven round-trip flights Monday through Friday and five round-trip flights on weekends to LAX, said company spokesman Gus Carbonell.

“Many passengers prefer to fly into Los Angeles rather than drive,” Carbonell said. “We believe that the market in the Oxnard area has been underserved.”

Passengers flying out of Oxnard most likely will connect with United Airline flights headed elsewhere, Carbonell said. Fares have not yet been established.

United Express joins American Eagle in offering service to Los Angeles, said Nona Makinson, operations manager for the Oxnard and Camarillo airports.

Oxnard Airport, a general aviation facility that houses about 150 private planes, has had three commercial airlines, including a United Express shuttle operated by another company that flew to Los Angeles and San Francisco. That shuttle ceased operation in 1991.

Makinson said the loss of carriers at the airport was due to the slumping economy, coupled with 1980s deregulation that was meant to spur competition and lower fares but ended up putting some airlines out of business.

Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez said the new airline is a sign that the economy is improving. “It’s good that somebody has the confidence . . . that this area has enough passengers to make it a viable business,” he said.