Cubreporter (Cubreporter)
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Username: Cubreporter
Post Number: 47
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, May 03, 2007 - 2:34 pm: | |
Mayor Villaraigosa and TACA Airlines Reach Agreement to Regionalize LA Airport Travel
MAYOR ANTONIO R. VILLARAIGOSA
City of Los Angeles
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 2, 2007
Contact: Matt Szabo
(213) 978-0741
MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA AND TACA AIRLINES REACH AGREEMENT TO REGIONALIZE LA AIRPORT TRAVEL
TACA Airlines will work to establish new service to LA/Ontario Airport helping to regionalize air travel and reduce congestion at LAX
SAN SALVADOR - Working to regionalize Los Angeles airport travel and reduce congestion at LAX, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Robert Kriete, CEO of TACA Airlines today reached an agreement for TACA to establish new service at LA/Ontario International Airport (ONT).
A Letter of Intent (LOI) was signed by Samson Mengistu, Los Angeles World Airports Interim Executive Director, and Robert Kriete that states TACA is willing to establish new service at LA/Ontario if additional Customs and Border Patrol agents are added for new flights at LA/Ontario and existing flights at LAX.
Todays agreement with TACA Airlines is the first step towards adding flights from El Salvador to Ontario Airport helping to reduce congestion at LAX, Mayor Villaraigosa said.
There is a great demand for flights between Central America and Southern California so regionalizing air travel to Ontario is a win-win.
TACA does not currently serve LA/Ontario, but of Southern Californias nearly 1.5 million residents of El Salvadoran and Guatemalan descent, 30.5% live closer to LA/Ontario than to LAX. TACA cites the lack of Customs and Border Patrol agents during the late evening hours as a barrier to entering the LA/Ontario market.
At the meeting, Mayor Villaraigosa also shared his vision for regional aviation in Southern California and the role that TACA can play.
Southern California is expanding beyond the city limits of Los Angeles which makes Ontario a great market for expanding airline service, Mayor Villaraigosa added. The Letter off Intent sends a strong message that the City of Los Angeles and TACA Airlines are ready to partner in reducing congestion at LAX. This is a tremendous opportunity for TACA and their sister-carrier Volaris to lead the way in regionalizing airport service throughout Southern California.
BACKGROUND ON TACA AIRLINES
TACA (Transportes Aéreos del Continente Americano) is the 3rd largest carrier in Latin America, and the dominant carrier in Central America. Converted from five national airlines, TACA maintains a fleet of 30 airplanes that fly to 39 destinations in 19 countries.
TACA currently provides 52.4% of the nonstop service from LAX to SAL, with 17 nonstop departures each week. TACA is the number one Central American carrier at LAX, servicing 238,876 passengers in 2006. Beginning July 2007, TACA will add five additional nonstop flights to SAL each week, and will also commence two weekly flights to Managua (MGA).
In 2006, TACA launched a low-cost carrier, Volaris, with service from Toluca Airport in Mexico City. Within the next 12 months, Volaris intends to enter the U.S. market with service to Los Angeles and Southern California.
Low-cost carriers have only recently launched in Mexico. Volaris is one of the most successful of these new low-cost carriers, and has begun to develop a base of operations at Toluca Airport. In its first year, Volaris carried more than 922,000 passengers on almost 8,700 flights, ushering in a new era of price competition among Mexican airlines.
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