Northern Pacific to launch first passenger flights this week: CEO

The FAA has issued Northern Pacific Airways an air carrier certificate, clearing the way for the start-up airline to begin passenger flights later this week. The US regulator confirmed on 10 July a tweet from last weekend in which Northern Pacific’s CE Rob McKinney said the airline had ”passed every test” from the FAA. ”Passed and exceeded all expectations,” he wrote on 8 July. ”Ravn Alaska as Northern Pacific Airways is authorised as a global airline flying large jets.” The airline had aimed to begin flights between Ontario International airport in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and Las Vegas last month. Those flights were delayed, however, due to incomplete FAA approvals. McKinney tells FlightGlobal on 10 July that those flights will now launch on 14 July.“We are sold out for this first flight,” McKinney says, adding that the airline has published its schedule through the end of September. Currently the only other airlines that connect the two airports are low-cost carriers Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines. The Northern Pacific connection is scheduled to leave Ontario, located about 58mi (93km) northeast of the region’s primary airport, Los Angeles International, on Fridays at 14:00 local time, arriving in Las Vegas an hour later. A return flight is scheduled to leave Las Vegas at 14:00 on Sundays, arriving into Ontario at 15:00 local time. The flight times appear to cater to customers from the Los Angeles metropolitan area looking to spend a weekend in Las Vegas – a popular trip. The distance between the two airports is listed as 197nm. By car, with traffic, that one-way journey can take 4-5h. “We believe there is almost an infinite amount of seats that you can throw at that market,” McKinney says. <br/>