Las Vegas service beefed up

Wednesday, May 9, 2001 | 10:58 a.m.

America West Airlines, the second-busiest passenger air carrier serving McCarran International Airport, will add three flights to two cities and change the departure times on two others as it increases service to Las Vegas.

The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline announced Tuesday that it would add a sixth daily flight between Las Vegas and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport beginning July 1. The new flight will leave Las Vegas at 2:30 p.m., with the return flight, beginning July 2, leaving New York at 10:30 a.m.

America West also will add two daily flights to San Francisco International Airport, bringing its daily total there to six. Departures to San Francisco will be added at 11:01 a.m. and 2:10 p.m., with departures to Las Vegas at noon and 4:30 p.m.

The airline also announced it is retiming two of its flights from late-night and early-morning departures to flights during the daylight hours. The lone daily flight from Houston Intercontinental Airport that leaves Houston at 11:40 p.m. with a return at 1:20 a.m., will leave at 6:40 p.m. and return at 7:45 a.m., beginning Aug. 20-21.

The company's lone flight to and from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which operates three days a week, leaves Dallas at 11:23 p.m., and returns at 1 a.m., will be changed to leave Las Vegas at 4:27 p.m., and return at 7:46 a.m., beginning July 1-2. The airline also will make it a daily operation.

America West is accommodating the schedule changes with the delivery of eight new Airbus A-319 twin-engine jets to be added to the fleet through September. Last month, the airline said it would return five Boeing 737 jets to lessors between September and January as a cost-cutting measure. A company spokeswoman today said additional Airbus jets are on order to replace the Boeing planes being returned later in the year.

America West also announced it is adding three new round-trip flights between Las Vegas and Cleveland beginning Aug. 31. With the additional flights, America West will grow to about 87 daily operations from Las Vegas to 39 different destinations.