JWA connects Newport--Mesa to the world

Paul Clinton

In about a month, travelers will be able to take an international

nonstop flight out of John Wayne Airport heading to Vancouver, British

Columbia. The flight will be the farthest anyone can go from JWA without

stopping.

But that doesn’t mean the airport isn’t a gateway to the world, an

airport spokeswoman said.

“You can go anywhere in the world from John Wayne Airport,”

spokeswoman Ann McCarley said. “You just have to make the connection.”

On April 28, Seattle-based Alaska Airlines will begin its daily

service to Vancouver. The airline has scheduled one departure a day from

Orange County.

The Canada flight hasn’t quite captured travelers’ imaginations yet,

but bookings continue to rise, airline spokesman Jack Walsh said.

“It takes a little while for people to learn it is there, but the

bookings are coming along,” Walsh said.

Orange County travelers are expected to use the flight to reach

Anchorage and the popular slate of Alaskan cruises. But Vancouver is also

a jewel few people know about, Walsh said.

“It’s a very cosmopolitan city,” Walsh said. “It’s almost as pretty as

Seattle.”

Business, not travel, is on most people’s minds as they flow through

JWA. According to a 2000 user survey, 55% of those who used the airport

at least three times a year were traveling for work.

The airport’s top five destinations, according to a December 1999

survey, are San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco, Dallas-Fort Worth and

Chicago.

The top three are considered short-haul flights and are populated

mostly by business travelers.

Another popular nonstop destination from John Wayne has been Hawaii,

with Aloha’s two daily flights to the island.

The 10 air carriers that operate out of the airport have more than 250

daily arrivals and departures, and reach 22 U.S. cities with nonstop

flights.

Continental Airlines offers a flight to Newark. Southwest Airlines’

route to Phoenix is a popular one.

Travelers can also head to Detroit, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.

Flights out of Orange County have increased in popularity after the

wave of new security measures were phased in at the nation’s airports

after the Sept. 11 attacks, a local travel agent said.

“Basically, to go nonstop out of Orange County is a great flight,”

said Joan McLoughlin, an agent at Newport Beach-based Airport Travel.

“LAX is such a drag. You don’t have as much of the crowds [at John

Wayne].”