ExpressJet Will Run 50-Seat Planes on Regional Routes From ABQ
By Andrew Webb
Journal Staff Writer
A new carrier, starting in April, will begin nonstop flights from Albuquerque to six cities in California, Texas and Oklahoma that currently have no direct service from any other airline.
Houston-based ExpressJet will offer three flights a day from the Albuquerque International Sunport to Ontario, Calif., and two flights a day to Sacramento, Calif., Austin and San Antonio, Texas, and Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla.
The company announced its local plans Monday at the Sunport and at other airports it aims to serve. By this summer, ExpressJet plans to offer nonstop service between 24 small and medium-size cities from Boise, Idaho, to Jacksonville, Fla., with a fleet of 44 jets, each seating 50.
There are currently no nonstop flights to any of the six cities ExpressJet plans to serve from Albuquerque, said Bill Rothanbarger, a part-time travel agent and appointed member of the city's Airport Advisory Board.
"This is going to be very exciting," he said.
ExpressJet Vice President of Finance and Controller Phung Ngo-Burns said the airline chose Albuquerque and the other cities after three years of market research.
The company does not plan to offer discounted rates but, instead, aims to fly routes that would have previously required layovers and plane changes in Dallas, Denver or Phoenix, she said.
Same-day departures and returns will be possible on most of ExpressJet's routes, Ngo-Burns said, meaning a traveler could leave New Mexico in the morning for California and be home for dinner. "ExpressJet will save the business travelers of Albuquerque time," she said.
One-way tickets are expected to range from $150 to $300. Ngo-Burns said the company's Embraer jets would have leather seats with no middle seat row, free XM Satellite radio for passengers, snacks, meals on some flights, and $1 cans of beer, as well as other beverages. ExpressJet already has a license to serve alcohol in flight, she said.
Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez said ExpressJet's plans indicated the Duke City is "growing and prospering, and the Sunport is just getting better and better."
The new routes would serve business travelers and vacationers from both the Plains states and the West Coast. The city and the airline estimated each route would have a $1 million annual impact on the local economy. "These are really nice routes for Albuquerque," he said.
Chávez said he was in talks with ExpressJet about possibly establishing some direct flights from Albuquerque to Mexico, something he has been trying to do for years.
ExpressJet already operates connection flights for Continental Airlines under the name Continental Express, with hubs in Newark, N.J., Cleveland, Ohio and Houston, with service to Canada and Mexico from several cities.
The regional flights announced Monday are the first under ExpressJet's own banner. The new service will include 57 nonstop flights and more than 225 departures from the West Coast to the Southeast. Ontario, near Los Angeles, will be its busiest airport, with daily flights to 14 cities.
ExpressJet was spun off from Continental in 2002 and is publicly traded as XJT. It had revenues of about $1.7 billion last year.
Tickets are available at ExpressJet's Web site, www.xjet.com, at online travel services such as Travelocity, and through travel agencies. A ticket counter and check-in area will be added to the east end of the Sunport's ticketing area.
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