The FINANCIAL — Virgin America, the low-cost upscale airline, announces a new nonstop option travelers flying between Dallas Love Field (DAL) and Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS) as of December 1, 2015, with tickets on sale today for two daily roundtrip flights between Dallas and Las Vegas.
With fleetwide WiFi, custom-designed leather seating, power outlets, personal touch-screen entertainment platforms and new aircraft with three classes of service, Virgin America will bring some needed product and fare competition to this nonstop route. Today, only one other carrier offers nonstop service between the airport most convenient to downtown Dallas and Las Vegas.
“Las Vegas is an iconic travel destination and Dallas travelers deserve an option that gets them there in style, whether they are traveling for a fun weekend getaway or headed to one of the thousands of trade events or conventions that Las Vegas hosts each year,” said Virgin America President and CEO David Cush. “We are confident that our award-winning service and product will resonate on this route, especially since we will be the only carrier operating between Love Field and Las Vegas to offer three classes of premium service.”
Las Vegas is currently the eighth largest market from Dallas Love Field in terms of guest traffic and the sixth largest destination from all Dallas airports combined (QDF). Virgin America will also be the only airline offering a red-eye from Las Vegas to Dallas, allowing Dallas-originating travelers to maximize their time taking advantage of everything Vegas has to offer before returning home, according to Virgin America.
“We are excited that Virgin America has announced additional service to Las Vegas from one of our top feeder markets,” said Cathy Tull, senior vice president of marketing for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “With a record 41 million visitors to the destination last year, Virgin America’s additional capacity and variety of premium service options provides additional fuel for future growth.”
“Virgin America and McCarran International Airport have enjoyed a phenomenal partnership since the carrier launched its service to Las Vegas in October 2007,” said Clark County Director of Aviation Rosemary Vassiliadis. “Over the years, we’ve been pleased to witness its nonstop network expand from San Francisco to New York and Los Angeles, and we’re looking forward to the addition of Dallas Love Field beginning this December 1.”
The new service will create well-timed connecting flight options between Las Vegas and Virgin America’s Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) and New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA).
In order to make aircraft available at its two Dallas Love Field gates to support the new Dallas-Las Vegas service, Virgin America will end its scheduled service between Love Field and Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), effective November 30, 2015. Guests who have already purchased tickets for travel between DAL-AUS on or after December 1st will be given the option of a full refund.
“Las Vegas continues to be a strong market for us, which is why we’re looking to expand our presence there,” said Virgin America Senior Vice President of Planning and Sales John Macleod. “While our overall performance across our longer haul Dallas Love Field markets continues to beat the competition in terms of revenue per available seat mile, our performance on DAL-AUS did not meet our expectations. And because we are limited to operating from two gates at Love Field, adding flights to Las Vegas means we had to make tough decisions and redeploy our capacity from our lowest performing operations. We’re proud that our service at Love Field has increased product competition and lowered fares, and we look forward to bringing even more competition and our premium service to the DAL-LAS market.”
Virgin America offers its guests sleek, tech-forward aircraft cabins with custom-designed seating, fleetwide WiFi, signature moodlighting, power outlets near every seat and the unparalleled Red® in-flight entertainment system. In addition to a Main Cabin that offers custom-designed leather seating with a deeper, more comfortable pitch, Virgin America’s First Class cabin offers plush white leather ‘cradle sleeper’ seating with 55 inches of pitch, 165 degrees of recline and lumbar massagers. The carrier’s Main Cabin Select service offers 38 inches of pitch, free food and cocktails, an all-access pass to media content, dedicated overhead bins and priority check-in and boarding. The Red in-flight entertainment platform offers guests their own seatback touch-screen TV, with more 25 films, live TV, interactive Google Maps, videogames, a 3,000 song library and an on-demand menu, which allows flyers to order a cocktail or snack from their seatback any time during a flight.
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