Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Long Beach Airport has state's lowest average airfares again

LONG BEACH - Knowledgeable local travelers have recognized the Long Beach Airport tends to offer one of the more enjoyable travel experiences.


From its quaint art deco style to easy freeway access to abundant parking, manageable crowds and short security lines, it has been a go-to choice for travelers looking to escape the crush at Los Angeles International Airport.

What might be less known is Long Beach's affordability.

For the third straight quarter, the Long Beach facility has recorded the lowest average airfares in California and ranked No. 2 nationally, behind Atlantic City, N.J.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation's latest quarterly report, the average round-trip domestic fare out of Long Beach was $229 in the final quarter of 2011. That ranks well below the national average of $368 over the same span.

Airport Director Mario Rodriguez said Long Beach's ability to provide low costs to its carriers is passed along to customers.

"Our primary focus is customer service, and keeping costs low is a part of that," Rodriguez said.

Long Beach also bucked a national airfare trend late last year by recording a 2 percent drop in fares, while national fares were rising by more than 2 percent for the quarter and 10 percent since the fourth quarter of 2010.

That doesn't mean a traveler will necessarily find the best deal flying out of Long Beach to one of its 14 destinations, the Department of Transportation report notes.


Cincinnati, Ohio and Houston/ Bush had the highest air fare averages at $504 and $494, respectively.

While Long Beach finished second to Atlantic City, it closed the gap, as the East Coast airport's average flight cost rose from $167 to $189 over the course of the quarter. Las Vegas was third at $267.

Rodriguez said Atlantic City and Las Vegas have casinos that subsidize flights, which keeps average costs down.

In a prepared statement, Mayor Bob Foster said: "There are a lot of great changes happening at the Long Beach Airport. ... But one thing that hasn't changed is that LGB is a very economical airport, with excellent service and a wide range of destinations."

In 2011, 3.1 million travelers passed through Long Beach Airport.

(Greg Mellen - Press Telegram)

3 comments:

Carla said...

That is a great advantage for people who travel a lot because everybody knows that the most expensive parts of trips are the flight tickets. Having that solved, people will go anywhere because they have the money to do it. Long Beach will receice more tourists than Laguna Beach, for instance, because they are competitive in the airfares market. I rememeber that last year I had some money and I wanted to go somewhere exotic. I did not have an extended budget so I had to get something affordable. One day I heard flight tickets to Argentina cost less than U$D 500 and that the apartments in Buenos Aires for rent were USD600 a month (cheaper than anywhere else). I did not doubt it for a second and got my tickets. I am so grateful of the news I got at that time because they allowed me to go to a destination I otherwise would have never met. The same will happen with Long Beach and tourists from all over the world and even inside the US!

RICK CHARLES said...

It is good to hear that Long Beach Airport has state's lowest average airfares again. It is great news for travelers. I like to travel. I have been to Alaska. I love fishing. Kenai river fishing was a remarkable experience of my life.

Jamie said...

Remarkable, this is a good news and a boon for tourism. Hope they continue like implementing that.

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