All-you-can-fly airline headed to San Diego

More than two years after bringing its all-you-can-fly membership airline to Carlsbad, Surf Air plans to begin offering commuter service to Los Angeles from San Diego’s Montgomery Field.

While the Santa Monica-based airline is confident the expanded service will begin some time in the second quarter of this year, it is not ready to commit to a definite start date.

“As we move forward and see what demand looks like, we will confirm a date, but based on the research and interest we’re getting I don’t see it not happening,” said Barry Holmes, Surf Air’s chief revenue officer.

The planned move to offer San Diego business travelers with as many as five daily flights to Los Angeles via the Hawthorne Municipal Airport was fueled by increasing inquiries from both existing and prospective members, said Holmes.

Within San Diego County, Surf Air currently operates just one daily flight to Los Angeles out of Carlsbad’s Palomar-McClellan Airport, plus two more to Santa Barbara, although the airline’s network of destinations reaches into the San Francisco Bay Area, Palm Springs and Lake Tahoe.

“First and foremost, we’re only in the state of California right now, and San Diego, being the second biggest market, is important to us,” Holmes said. “Montgomery Field offers even more convenience, both to the residents of San Diego and those visiting for business from L.A. With multiple frequencies per day we believe we can satisfy the demand this commuter has and also offer access to the rest of the Surf Air network.”

For frequent fliers, the appeal of Surf Air is the all-you-can-fly model that requires a one-time payment of $1,000, plus a monthly membership fee of $1,950. Members fly whenever and wherever the airline goes, and without the hassle of security lines.

Still, there are already plenty of commuter options out of the San Diego International Airport, where American Airlines and Delta operate five nonstop flights a day to Los Angeles and United, six.

Montgomery Field, a general aviation, city-owned airport known formally as Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport, is currently fully leased by three operators, although one of them, Crownair Aviation, has been in talks with Surf Air about sub-leasing its office and hangar space.

David Ryan, president of Crownair, said there is space available to accommodate Surf Air’s Pilatus PC-12 NG aircraft.

“We’ve offered them an office space and fuel package, but until they decide when they’ll start operations, it’s hard to go any further than that,” Ryan said.

Holmes said that Surf Air will be able to take existing aircraft it has and reassign it to the San Diego-Los Angeles route without having to expand its inventory of planes.

The airline is currently offering what it’s calling a pre-sale on its website, taking deposits to gauge interest for planned flights between San Diego and L.A. While a schedule hasn’t been finalized, the website shows multiple departures out of San Diego, beginning at 6 a.m. and ending at 8:40 p.m.

“We haven’t marketed additional frequencies between L.A. and Carlsbad so we haven’t been able to realize the demand that’s there,” Holmes said. “We quickly realized last year that the best strategic move was to open the L.A./San Diego route via Montgomery Field as our next expansion focused on this commuter.”

lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-2251

Twitter: @loriweisberg