This week’s announcement that Virgin America will begin service to JFK via SFO is a huge win for Palm Springs. But it did not come without a lot of work with the City’s Airport Commission, buffeted by an incentive program we created to help bring new airline service to the City.
Already called the “Most Relaxing Airport” in the U.S., thanks to our redesign of our terminal, we’re seeing this incentive program pay off with new service to major hubs like Denver and San Francisco, other cities like Stockton, and even more service to Canada—one of our largest bases of tourism.
From The Desert Sun:
The San Francisco-based airline, which began flying in August 2007, added three palm trees to its website Tuesday with a banner reading: “Get some playtime in Palm Springs.…About half of the $1 million set aside as part of the city’s airline incentive program has now been spent, said Tom Nolan, the airport’s executive director. The goal is to add new destinations and increase frequency. The city is in constant contact with carriers — both existing and potential — in trying to land new flights, Nolan said.
Incentives from airports are nothing new, but “it’s becoming more and more prevalent as airlines reduce capacity,” he said.
“At the end of the day, airlines only have so many aircraft to appropriate,” he said.
New airlines to Palm Springs include Virgin, Frontier Airlines, and increased service from WestJet and Allegiant are all evidence of the confidence in our City. And this program will pay off huge for tourism revenue, already increasing again in the double digits.
Good news for Palm Springs.
Photo by Binder Donedat, used under a Creative Commons license
