Southwest Airlines begins flights between Sacramento and downtown New York City on Sunday, flying in the face of what is expected to be the slowest summer season since 2004 at Sacramento International airport.
Southwest, which generates a little more than half the traffic at Sacramento's airport, already flies from here to Long Island MacArthur Airport, about an hour east of New York City. The new route will land at LaGuardia Airport - just minutes from downtown Manhattan.
The new route is not a direct flight, but connects through Chicago. JetBlue remains the only airline offering non-stop service from Sacramento to New York.
As for the new LaGuardia flights, "Bookings have been looking good. It's going really well," said Whitney Eichinger, spokeswoman for Dallas-based Southwest.
She declined to give specific numbers on pre-booked reservations.
Southwest began offering discounted, online fares into LaGuardia in April. One-way fares from Sacramento range from $149 for Internet specials to $459 for business fares.
The carrier, which typically flies into outlying airports outside major city hubs,recently added flights into Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
In August, Southwest will launch flights into Boston's Logan International Airport, Eichinger said. Currently, Southwest flies into cities about an hour outside Boston.
At the Sacramento airport, the annual number of airline passengers this year is expected to drop to the lowest level since 2004. If the trend continues as expected , 2010 would be the lowest traffic year since 2003, according to a recent report.
A Sacramento airport spokeswoman said the drop in traffic is less than what other airports of similar size are experiencing, such as Oakland International Airport.
"Its not a ghost town here," said Gina Swankie.
With 12 airlines and one commuter service operating out of the airport, a traffic slowdown does not mean the airport isn't crowded at certain peak travel times, she noted.
Call The Bee's M.S. Enkoji, (916) 321-1106.
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