American Airlines is to launch a single daily rotation between Los Angeles and Washington Reagan National Airport this summer complementing its existing three times daily flights into Washington Dulles International. The new flight will start from June 14, 2012.
"The new flight between Washington Reagan and Los Angeles is made possible because of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization bill that was recently passed by Congress and signed by President Obama," said Will Ris, Senior Vice President – Government Affairs, American Airlines. "We have long wanted to offer our customers the ability to travel across the country between Los Angeles and Washington's Reagan National Airport. Due to restrictions on flights into Reagan National it was not possible until now.”
American Airlines will utilise a Boeing 757-200 on the route configured in a two-class arrangement with 22 Business Class and 166 Economy seats. The airline is currently in the process of upgrading its domestic 757 models with modifications including new main and premium cabin seating, new sidewalls that give the interior a lighter and brighter look, and new LCD monitors to enhance in-flight entertainment viewing. In addition, the airline is launching in-flight Wi-Fi Internet service within the continental United States, including select 757s.
In the past year an estimated 1.11 million O&D passengers travelled between Los Angeles and Washington with around 889,000 flying to or from Dulles International and a further 222,000 flying to or from Reagan National. The table below shows there are currently more than 90 weekly flights between the two US cities offering more than 15,000 seats in each direction.
|
SCHEDULED AIR SERVICES BETWEEN LOS ANGELES AND WASHINGTON (non-stop weekly departures) |
|||||
|
Origin |
Destination |
Airline |
Weekly Flights |
Weekly Seats |
% Capacity |
|
Los Angeles (LAS) |
Washington Dulles International (IAD) |
American Airlines (AA) |
21 |
2,982 |
18.8 % |
|
United Airlines (UA) |
47 |
9,390 |
59.1 % |
||
|
Virgin America (VX) |
16 |
2,400 |
15.1 % |
||
|
Washington Reagan National (DCA) |
Alaska Airlines (AS) |
7 |
1,120 |
7.0 % |
|
|
TOTAL |
91 |
15,892 |
- |
||
The new link by American Airlines from Los Angeles to Reagan National will put it in direct competition with Alaska Airlines. American currently has an estimated 17.7 per cent share of the traffic between Washington and Los Angeles, ranking it as the third largest operator between the two cities. United Airlines is the market leader with a 34.3 per cent share followed by Virgin America with a 19.4 per cent share.
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