Horizon Air new winter flights to California’s Mammoth Mountain Ski Area to be launched

Horizon Air is expanding its air service to Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, the winter resort in California, the United States, by adding daily, direct flights to Reno (Nevada) and San Jose (California) for the forthcoming skiing season.In a statement, Horizon Air, the regional airline based in Seattle, Washington, the United States, said the direct service – which means same plane and one-stop – is available between Seattle in Washington and Portland in Oregon.

The new flight will originate in Seattle at 1:55 p.m, make stops in Reno and Mammoth Lakes, before continuing to Los Angeles.

Horizon Air will also launch a once-a-day flight from San Jose to Mammoth Lakes during the ski season.

The flight will depart from San Jose at 11:25 a.m. each day and arrive at Mammoth Lakes at 12:20 p.m. The fare will be $49 for a one-way ticket.

The airline said all flights will use the 76-seat, twin-engine, turboprop Bombardier Q400 planes.

Horizon also said that passengers on its 76-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprops can avail of free Starbucks coffee, soft drinks, snacks and alcoholic beverages.

Horizon Air’s winter service to the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area for the 2009-2010 skiing season will operate from December 17, 2009, through April 11, 2010.

Horizon Air said it will offer special fares on select days from Reno for as low as $49 each way.

Fares will start at $149 each way from Seattle. Tickets are on sale at Horizon Air’s website.

It was in the winter of 2008 that Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines, launched its service to Mammoth Yosemite Airport (which is a 15-minute drive from the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area resort) with a single, daily, 70-minute-long flight from Los Angeles.

A drive by car from Los Angeles to Mammoth takes around 5 hours; a drive from Reno to Mammoth takes 3 hours; and the drive from San Jose to Mammoth takes 5.5 hours.

Notwithstanding its remote location, the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area resort is very popular, attracting tourists mainly from southern California.

According to data available, around 1.5 million skiers visit Mammoth each year – being behind only Breckenridge and Vail, in Colorado, among the skiing resorts in the United States.