Spirit Airlines bets on success at Hollywood Burbank Airport
Hollywood Burbank Airport will soon offer passengers an alternative — and possibly less-expensive — option to travel to Las Vegas.
Spirit Airlines officials announced on Tuesday the local airfield will be the latest airport they will serve to and from the destination known as Sin City.
Starting June 20, Spirit will offer three daily flights from the Burbank airport to McCarran International Airport, said John Kirby, vice president of network planning for the airline.
“We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time now, and we thought it was the right move for us,” Kirby said during an announcement event at Hollywood Burbank on Tuesday. “We think the [Las] Vegas market is big unto itself. We think it could be stimulated quite a bit more.”
Southwest Airlines is the only air carrier at Hollywood Burbank that currently offers flights —11 of them a day — to the Nevada city, which are popular among passengers, said Denis Carvill, deputy executive director of operations for the airport.
The addition of Spirit’s flights to Las Vegas, Carvill said, would provide those who are looking for a getaway weekend in Las Vegas with a cheaper alternative when flying out of Burbank.
A one-way flight to Las Vegas on Southwest this month from the local airport can cost between $73 and $253.
Meanwhile, a one-way flight on Spirit from Los Angeles International Airport costs an average of about $53.
Kirby said Spirit is looking to bring similar low fares to Hollywood Burbank, which he described as more convenient than LAX.
“I think it will grow the number of people flying to Las Vegas from our airport,” Carvill said. I don’t think we’re going to see a dilution of what Southwest is doing. If anything, it will cause their service to grow going forward.”
Hollywood Burbank will be the 74th airport that Spirit flies into and out of in the country. It is also the local airport’s seventh air carrier, joining Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines
Depending on how its services fare at Hollywood Burbank, Kirby said there is a possibility for Spirit to expand its offerings for passengers, but only time will tell.
“We tend to test the water with services like this,” Kirby said. “Like a lot of carriers, if you do well, you add more and, if you don’t do as well, you kind of slow things down. I think the people of Burbank will determine if we add more service or not.”
anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
