Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Casino operators renew deal for air service to Gulf Coast

BILOXI, Miss. -- MGM Grand Inc.'s Beau Rivage Resort and Park Place Entertainment Corp.'s Grand Casinos signed a joint agreement with AirTran Airways, effective Saturday, to continue the carrier's low-fare flights to the Coast.

Tom Brosig, president of the Mid-South Region for Park Place, said the casinos will be partners in the deal with Casino Airlink. Casino Airlink is a Tampa, Fla.-based tour operator and charter service that has been serving Grand Casinos and other Coast casinos for several years.

Casino Airlink and Mirage Resorts Vacations, a tour operator specializing in vacation packages for MGM Grand's Mirage Resorts properties, will coordinate cooperative reservations for AirTran.

The deal also includes a joint effort to do marketing, promotion and advertising in the cities where the service is available. AirTran flies into Gulfport-Biloxi Regional Airport from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Tampa-St. Petersburg, Orlando, Dallas, Houston and Atlanta.

Mirage Resorts has been subsidizing AirTran flights to Gulfport since the airline started the jet service in March 1999. The service brings in more than 14,000 passengers a month on six flights a week. A third daily Atlanta flight is scheduled to begin next week.

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