CARLSBAD —“Elvis is stuck in traffic,” joked a staffer from McClellan-Palomar Airport Thursday morning.
Elvis was en route to the airport to celebrate BizAir Shuttle’s first flight out of the airport to Las Vegas.
In June, BizAir Shuttle took over the terminal that was left by United Airlines in April.
United quit servicing the airport because the company updated their aircraft fleet and stopped using smaller planes used for short commuter flights mostly to Los Angeles.
BizAir is offering flights to Las Vegas Thursdays at 10:45 a.m. and Friday and Sunday at 12:35 p.m.
“You can now fly from Carlsbad to Vegas, lose your money and avoid all the traffic on the I-5 and all the traffic on the I-15 and I-10 and all the lines at the San Diego County airport,” said San Diego County Supervisor Bill Horn.
One-way flights start at $169 and there are no checked baggage fees. The plane sits 30 passengers, which Founder and CEO of BizAir Shuttle Dan Cretsinger said makes for a more pleasant experience.
Parking at Palomar Airport is $5 a day, which Horn said, is all the more reason to fly out of Carlsbad.
Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall agreed with the ease of flying out of Carlsbad.
“It’s really an unknown gem, what we have here in North County,” Hall said.
BizAir also offers flights to Los Angeles daily.
