Grand Casino pulling out of airline pact

Monday, Oct. 2, 2000 | 10:36 a.m.

Grand Casino said last week it wants out of the deal with Beau Rivage, which is owned by Las Vegas-based MGM MIRAGE. The rival casinos had announced their joint marketing agreement with AirTran in June.

AirTran flies into Gulfport-Biloxi Regional Airport from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Tampa-St. Petersburg, Orlando, Dallas, Houston and Atlanta.

Tom Brosig, regional president of Park Place Entertainment Corp. of Las Vegas, Grand Casino's parent company, said the agreement wasn't working out as expected. He said his company notified Beau Rivage of its intention to withdraw from the partnership.

Brosig said Grand Casino wasn't satisfied with "some of the mechanics of how this would work." He would not elaborate.

Bruce Nourse, a spokesman for Beau Rivage, said he didn't know how Grand Casino's decision would affect AirTran service, which Beau Rivage has subsidized since the airline started jet service to the coast in March 1999.

"We believe the AirTran service is very important to the continued growth of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. We will take the next four months to seriously evaluate our options in hopes of maintaining that relationship," he said.

Airport Executive Director Bruce Frallic said keeping AirTran service is critical.

He credits the airline with the airport's major increase in passengers and for reducing fares charged by competing airlines. Last month AirTran boarded almost 16,000 passengers in Gulfport, nearly half of the airport's 36,297 departing passengers for the month.