Business & Tech

California Pacific Airlines Plans Spring Launch Date

Owner Ted Vallas has been working to get flights off the ground by March.

California Pacific Airlines, which is owned by North County investor Ted Vallas, will be up and running by March with flights in and out of McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad.

That launch date is according to CP Air’s senior vice president of communications Tom Morrow, who said the company is waiting for regulatory approval to offer non-stop jet service within California and to Nevada, Arizona and Mexico.

In a recent email to Patch, Morrow offered the following update:

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The latest information I can give you as to our status is we should realize certification by late December or early January. At this time there are no plans for specific marketing, however as we get closer to launch, which should be by March, we will be offering a number of opportunities for local residents to travel to our various destinations.

The delays we have experienced up until now are primarily due to working through the long list of requirements by the FAA and the Department of Transportation.

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We'll keep you posted as we work toward full certification. It's going to happen, but we can move only as fast as governmental requirements allow us to move.

In August, Vallas told Los Angeles Times his target market is the approximately 1 million North County residents who must drive down to San Diego International Airport to catch flights. Several years ago Vallas funded his own market survey, which found that 40 percent of the travelers that go through that airport live in North County.  

”I’m only doing it because there’s a golden opportunity here,” he told the newspaper. “The demand is here, and that is a proven demand.”

Patch will keep you posted with updates as more information becomes available.


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