San Bernardino airport adds Las Vegas flights via Breeze Airways
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) -- Viva Las Vegas... and San Bernardino. The two cities now share a connection after Breeze Airways added Las Vegas to its growing list of destinations at the San Bernardino International Airport.
The airline celebrated with a Vegas-themed inaugural flight complete with an Elvis impersonator and showgirls.
"We are pretty much capped at SNA (Orange County's John Wayne Airport), but we can grow here," said David Neeleman, founder and CEO of Breeze Airways.
Last August, Breeze began offering non-stop flights to San Francisco with continued service to Provo, Utah at budget-friendly prices. The airline is focusing on smaller airports to bypass hubs and shorten travel time.
"We started SF a while back and it keeps building and building and doing well and now we have a couple flights a week to Las Vegas. But if it does well we'll keep adding service," said Neeleman.
The twice-weekly flights to Vegas will operate on Thursdays and Sundays with continued service to Hartford, Connecticut.
San Bernardino airport opens for commercial passengers
For April and Kenny Torres of Nuevo, the flight to Las Vegas came at an opportune time and the right price of $29 per person for a one-way ticket.
"It happened to work out that there was a flight available on our anniversary weekend," said April Torres.
The couple admits they were unaware of the inaugural flight but said after their initial experience the airport would be on their radar for future trips.
"We'll do it again. Over and over. It's just super easy. No traffic, no foot traffic... it's nice. No long lines," said Kenny Torres.
Convenience and location drew Elaine Bustamante and her husband to the airport.
The Murrieta couple hopped on a flight to San Francisco amid the fanfare and celebration of the Las Vegas route.
"We had family that has flown with Breeze and they said it was good. So we were like OK let's give it a try as well," said Elaine Bustamante.
The Airbus 220 touched down to a celebratory welcome marking the airport's continued growth in the Inland Empire.
