Countywide : Lease Approved for Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines’ long-awaited landing in Orange County inched closer Tuesday when the Board of Supervisors approved a lease agreement for ticket counter space at John Wayne Airport.
Airport spokesman Pat Ware said the airline, whose reputation for no-frills service and cut-rate fares have made it one of the most traveled in the nation, will lease 130 square feet for its counters in Terminal B of the airport. Departure gates will be located in both Terminal A and B.
The 11 1/2-year lease called for a security deposit of $735,000.
The counters will be in operation when the airline begins its inaugural service May 26. On that date, Ware said, the airline is expected to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony before its first flight to the San Francisco Bay area.
Southwest will begin service with 17 flights per day, 15 to the Bay Area and two to Salt Lake City.
“We’re all interested to see how this goes for them,” Ware said. “They have done their marketing research well.”
The Dallas-based airline was approved for the daily flights in February when county supervisors called Southwest’s entry to the local area a “major accomplishment” in making the Orange County market more competitively priced.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
