Monterey >> For a significant monthly fee, travelers will soon be able to fly out of Monterey with very little planning, or inconvenience, to California destinations.
Startup airline Surf Air — which charges $1,750 a month for unlimited travel — will begin flights out of Monterey Regional Airport on July 20, it announced this weekend.
The Santa Monica-based company formed two years ago but is quickly expanding. Its target audience has been business travelers who make a lot of trips between Southern California and Silicon Valley.
“We’re making that private aviation experience affordable to, really, everybody,” CEO Jeff Potter told The Herald on Monday.
The company flies to Los Angeles, Burbank, San Carlos, Santa Barbara, Oakland, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe and Carlsbad. It will also add Santa Rosa, Sacramento and Palm Springs by October.
Surf Air uses Pilatus PC-12 planes, a single-engine Swiss turboprop craft that seats up to eight people.
Potter said Monterey, as a small market, is more costly than large hubs for commercial airlines to fly in and out — opening the door for Surf Air to have more of a benefit.
“We think we can be very competitive with the demographic we are after,” he said.
Monterey Regional Airport general manager Tom Greer said Surf Air plans just two flights a day out of Monterey, which will not disrupt operations at the airport.
Daily direct flights from Monterey will go to Jet Center Los Angeles in Hawthorne and the San Carlos Airport in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Greer said it does not come close to making up for the gigantic hole left by United Airlines when it canceled flights to Denver this time last year.
“It was big blow to our overall fees and patterns. … The Denver line gave us a gateway to both the domestic and international market,” he said.
However, like many on the airport staff and board, they view the Surf Air addition as a big win for the airport.
“It gives our customers access to the Bay Area in a more timely basis,” he said, pointing out the convenience.
Members are screened ahead of time, so there are no security lines or identification required before boarding. Booking can take less than 30 seconds on a smartphone.
The company has around 1,400 members and it expects to hit 2,500 to 3,000 by the end of the year. There is a waiting list of around 600 people, including some Monterey County residents, which is part of the reason Potter said Surf Air came here.
Potter said Monterey area residents should enter information online to assist in figuring out travel patterns and there is a chance they can be admitted right away. There is a one-time $1,000 sign-up fee.
The average annual income for Surf Air’s customers is roughly $200,000, Potter said.
“We’re trying to make this affordable for folks who have never had the opportunity to enjoy this type of experience,” he said.
The average member flies two round trips a month, often proving cheaper or similar prices as two normal round-trip flights. For example, if a single adult passenger attempted to fly round trip from Monterey to San Francisco on Tuesday it would cost (at the lowest) $1,104, according to Kayak.com. Even with some planning, the same flight would cost around $400 on Aug. 1.
Phillip Molnar can be reached at 726-4361.
