ST. GEORGE — A low-cost airline that initially announced nonstop service between St. George Regional Airport and Los Angeles, then changed course, says Southern Utah isn’t completely off its radar.
A spokesperson for Avelo Airlines told St. George News there still are plans for it to expand to St. George. But when those plans take off is still in the air.
A little over a year ago, Avelo announced it would be starting up flights to and from the Los Angeles area at the St. George airport, with fares around $49 for flights to Hollywood Burbank Airport.
Just a month later, Avelo put those plans in a holding pattern.
“We announced St. George and due to the pandemic and the Omicron variant we decided to pause and delay service,” said Courtney Goff, a spokesperson with Avelo, which rebranded as Avelo in 2021 after starting in 1987 as the charter Casino Express Airlines and then Xtra Airlines.
Since announcing the postponement of the St. George route in October, Avelo has added six more nonstop routes from Hollywood Burbank Airport, with the nearest to St. George being Las Vegas, Nevada. At this point, Avelo has no routes to Utah.
Goff said ultimately having flights out of St. George is not out of the question.
“We’re still considering resurfacing in St. George but don’t have a date or inclination of when that will be,” Goff said.
There are presently no non-stop flights between St. George and Southern California, though the region is accessible on flights with one or more stop. Up until 2020, United Airlines had a direct flight to Los Angeles.
Destinations currently served by the St. George Regional Airport directly for non-stop flights are Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Dallas and Denver. These flights are operated by SkyWest Airlines, which is headquartered in St. George, via Delta, American and United. The Cedar City airport offers direct flights to Salt Lake City.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.