Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Horizon will resume flights from California

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Seattle-based Horizon Air announced last week it will resume direct flights next winter to the Wood River Valley from Oakland and Los Angeles.

Horizon spokeswoman Cheryl Temple on April 21 said the airline will offer daily service from the two California cities to Hailey from Dec. 16, 2004, through April 3, 2005.

The scheduled daily flight times are:

• Depart Friedman Memorial Airport for Los Angeles International Airport at 7 a.m. and arrive in Los Angeles at 8:20 a.m.
  
   
• Depart Los Angeles at 9 a.m.; arrive in Hailey at 12:25 p.m.
  
   
• Depart Hailey for Oakland International Airport at 5:45 p.m. and arrive in Oakland at 6:45 p.m.
  
   
• Depart Oakland at 7:25 p.m.; arrive in Hailey at 10:20 p.m.

The flights will be operated with 70-seat Q-400 turbo-prop airplanes, the same aircraft used when the airline offered both California routes last winter.

Sun Valley Co., as it did last winter, will subsidize the two California routes. No other parties are subsidizing the flights.

Jack Sibbach, Sun Valley Co. director of marketing and public relations, said he expects in the coming days to sign a contract that will guarantee the resort company that the flights will be provided. In exchange, Sun Valley Co. will provide revenue guarantees that ensure Horizon will not accrue any losses in maintaining the two routes.

Horizon is continuing to maintain its regular flights between Hailey and Seattle without any revenue guarantees.

Temple said the air carrier does not plan to offer direct flights to Hailey from Southern California this summer, when demand for the flights could conceivably meet the costs.

"There are no plans to offer the Los Angeles flights this summer," Temple said.

During the term of the 2003-2004 contract between Sun Valley Co. and Horizon—which ran from mid-December 2003 through late March 2004—Horizon carried a total of 13,167 passengers between Hailey and the two California cities. Occupancy of seats on the two flight routes combined was approximately 50 percent.

Pursuant to last winter’s contract, Sun Valley Co. has been required to pay Horizon approximately $194,000 in subsides.

The Los Angeles flight service commenced in December 2002 and continued through last March. The first year of service was subsidized by a federal grant.

The Oakland service was offered for the first time last winter.

Horizon this week called the inaugural season of the Oakland flights a "success."

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