The San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport welcomed its newest flight destination to Las Vegas on Thursday, Oct. 17.
Travelers can now fly non-stop from San Luis Obispo to Las Vegas on Contour Airlines. Flights are offered four times per week and ticket prices range from $99 to $229, according to Contour.
“We have this service because the community is using it,” San Luis Obispo County Airports Deputy Director Craig Piper said.
Passengers will fly in the 30-seat Embraer ERJ-135 aircrafts operated by Contour, with a checked bag included with every ticket.
In early September, the San Luis Obispo Airport announced two additional non-stop flights with Alaska Airlines. Flights to San Diego will begin Jan. 7, 2020, and flights to Portland will start June 18, 2020.
“We’ve had those conversations, and we just try to stay on [airlines’] radars so that they know we’re looking to expand routes,” Piper said.
The San Luis Obispo Airport currently offers seven direct flight destinations to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas, Phoenix, Seattle and Las Vegas. San Diego and Portland will mark nine total non-stop destinations.
In 2018, the airport added a non-stop flight to Dallas and a second flight to Denver. A second flight to Dallas is expected to be added this winter, according to Piper.
Based on community feedback and data from airlines, the airport is exploring the possibility of adding flight destinations to Houston, Sacramento, Salt Lake City and Chicago.
“It’s conversations with the airlines to get them to see the demand for that service and for that route, and it’s a continuous,” Piper said. “It’s an education process to some degree from our end to the airline.”
United Airlines, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Contour Airlines are the four airlines currently offering flights to and from the San Luis Obispo Airport.