AirTran Airways is pulling the plug on its gamble with a nonstop flight to Las Vegas from Akron-Canton Airport -- at least for now.
The nonstop flights, which started Aug. 4, will be suspended May 9. Travelers will still be able to fly on AirTran to Las Vegas through the airline's Atlanta hub. Travelers with tickets for flights after May 9 will be offered a rerouted ticket (with no money savings) or a full refund on their tickets.
Even though the Akron nonstop route was popular with travelers -- flights were about 80 percent to 85 percent full, carrying 100 people a day -- the airline was losing money because of high fuel costs, said Tad Hutcheson, vice president of marketing for AirTran. It's also a long flight -- Las Vegas is 1,845 flight miles from Akron.
When the service started, fuel prices were about $45 a barrel. Now they're about $66 a barrel.
``The price of fuel has just gotten out of hand,'' Hutcheson said.
Las Vegas is a leisure market that travelers want cheap fares to reach, Hutcheson said. ``If your fares get too high, people decide they're not going to go,'' he said. ``We don't think we could pass along a fare increase to cover the losses on the route.''
Hutcheson said the airline hopes to reinstate the route if fuel prices drop. ``Maybe we can make it work later on,'' he said.
Beacon Journal
The nonstop flights, which started Aug. 4, will be suspended May 9. Travelers will still be able to fly on AirTran to Las Vegas through the airline's Atlanta hub. Travelers with tickets for flights after May 9 will be offered a rerouted ticket (with no money savings) or a full refund on their tickets.
Even though the Akron nonstop route was popular with travelers -- flights were about 80 percent to 85 percent full, carrying 100 people a day -- the airline was losing money because of high fuel costs, said Tad Hutcheson, vice president of marketing for AirTran. It's also a long flight -- Las Vegas is 1,845 flight miles from Akron.
When the service started, fuel prices were about $45 a barrel. Now they're about $66 a barrel.
``The price of fuel has just gotten out of hand,'' Hutcheson said.
Las Vegas is a leisure market that travelers want cheap fares to reach, Hutcheson said. ``If your fares get too high, people decide they're not going to go,'' he said. ``We don't think we could pass along a fare increase to cover the losses on the route.''
Hutcheson said the airline hopes to reinstate the route if fuel prices drop. ``Maybe we can make it work later on,'' he said.
Beacon Journal
