Lake Tahoe loses passenger service

Tuesday, Nov. 23, 1999 | 10:38 a.m.

line LAS VEGAS SUN

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. -- Lake Tahoe has lost all scheduled jet service, at least temporarily, after its last remaining carrier announced it was suspending all flights to South Lake Tahoe Airport.

Tahoe Air, a carrier that ran as many as 60 flights a week, has suspended operations at the airport following the termination of a lease agreement with Casino Express in October. The company plans to eventually resume operations.

The carrier flew 10 flights a day, six days a week during the summer and winter months between Lake Tahoe, San Jose and Los Angeles, with a capacity between 85 and 115 passengers on each flight. During spring and fall months, this frequency dropped to about eight flights a week, said Jeffrey Gardiner, president and chief executive of Tahoe Pacific Corp., majority owner of Tahoe Air.

Tahoe Air had no flights to Las Vegas, but had been considering adding Las Vegas and San Diego to its flight list, Gardiner said. These cities remain long-term objectives of the company while it attempts to negotiate a new lease contract, he said.

In October, Allegiant Air, a Fresno, Calif., carrier that flew to Lake Tahoe from Las Vegas, suspended flights to the Northern Nevada resort town because of a lack of business. It flew one round trip six days per week.

Soon after halting the Lake Tahoe flights, however, Allegiant announced it would start up daily flights between Las Vegas and Long Beach, Calif.

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