Airline to fly nonstop to Florida

Vision Airlines plans LR-Destin service, vacation deals

— Vision Airlines says it will begin nonstop service between Little Rock and Northwest Florida Regional Airport near Destin with three flights per week in each direction in early spring.

Vision will phase in flights to the Florida panhandle from 20 cities, including Little Rock, beginning March 25. Vision’s flights from Little Rock will operate Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with rates starting at $89 each way. A special through Sunday puts the price at $49 each way, according to a news release dated today.

Beginning in April, travelers will also be able to continue on to Orlando from Little Rock, with a stop at Destin.

The flight to Destin will be the only nonstop flight from Little Rock to Florida. Delta Airlines ended a nonstop flight to Orlando in June 2008.

Vision Airlines started out in 1994, flying between Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. In addition to its charter flight service, the company began offering scheduled flights more than two years ago. The airline is based in Atlanta.

Clay Meek, director of sales and marketing for Vision, said Little Rock and some of the other cities Vision will serve have been “neglected” by large air carriers that offer flights in smaller regional jets and offer nonstop service to just a few destinations. Vision will fly 148-seat Boeing 737s between Little Rock and Destin.

Southwest Airlines also flies 737s on its flights from Little Rock National Airport, Adams Field. Delta uses another plane that is bigger than the regional jets, the MD-88, on some of its 16 daily flights to the airport. And American Eagle announced in December that it plans to use MD-80s with 136 to 140 seats on three of its flights to Dallas.

But other major airlines are not Vision’s major competitor in Little Rock, Meek said in a phone interview Monday. He said the airline is confident it will be able to fill the 737s based on travel data obtained from the Okaloosa County Tourism and Development Council in Florida, which indicates that thousands of Arkansans drive to Destin each year. The drive time from Little Rock is around 10 hours, while Vision’s flights are scheduled for just under an hour and a half.

Mike Boyd, of Boyd Travel Group International in Evergreen, Colo., compared Vision to Allegiant Airlines, which bills itself as a specialized travel company that offers discount flights as part of an overall vacation package.

Vision Airlines will offer deals on hotels and activities in the northwest Florida region.

“Their model is based not so much to fill the need for Little Rock air service, but to create net new passengers who want to take a vacation,” Boyd said.

“Is this going to induce other airlines to come in? Is it going to lower fares? No. But it’s going to put a whole lot more people through your airport,” he said, estimating that up to 90 percent of Vision’s passengers will be people who would not have traveled if not for deals offered by Vision.

In the news release from Vision Airlines, Little Rock National Airport Director Ron Mathieu said the airport is pleased with the new service.

“We know there are many people from Arkansas who head to Destin on a regular basis who will benefit from the service,” he said.

Mathieu could not be reached for further comment Monday. A spokesman for the airport declined to comment.

Oh Friday, the Little Rock Airport Commission’s finance committee agreed to send an incentive package for Vision Airlines on to the full commission, which is scheduled to vote on it today. The airport would waive fees for the airline for six months and offer $25,000 in marketing services, provided Vision stayed in Little Rock for at least a year.

Arkansas, Pages 7 on 01/18/2011

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