Flights to LAX resume July 6
Daily direct flights from the California Redwood Coast — Humboldt County Airport (ACV) to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) will resume July 6, the Humboldt County Administrative Office announced Friday in a press release.
According to the release, “the LAX flight will depart daily at 2:30 pm, and arrivals from LAX will come in at 3:31 pm.”
ACV drastically reduced its flights to LAX, as well as Denver and San Francisco, April 1 in an effort to curtail the spread of COVID-19.
Consequently April and May saw the airport suffer significant economic losses. April saw a 95% decrease in passenger traffic — 300 departing passengers and 283 arriving — and May saw an 86% drop — 975 departing passengers and 898 arriving passengers — compared to the same months in 2019.
“We’ve been working closely with our Department of Health & Human Services’ Public Health branch and the County’s Emergency Operations Center to make sure we are ready for changes in travel patterns and guidance,” Cody Roggatz, Director of Aviation, said in the release. “As regulations and conditions around the state change, we need to adapt as well. In the big picture, this is good news for the community in many ways, and we are keeping safety as the top priority. One important benefit is that the return of the LAX service will provide more efficient means of supporting our medical community through shipment of testing supplies, blood samples, and other critical medical equipment directly to and from LAX.”
Humboldt County Health Officer Dr. Teresa Frankovich said in the release, “The state is still recommending that people not travel significant distances in order to avoid spread of COVID-19, and locally we are advising that individuals limit their travel in and
out of the county. Many areas of the state and country are experiencing more COVID-19 activity than Humboldt and travel is likely to increase one’s risk of exposure, compared to remaining close to home.”
ACV is touting several coronavirus-inspired additions to the airport including hand sanitizing stations, modified seat configuration, mandatory masks on flights and in the airport and new COVID-19 safety signage, as it prepares
to move back towards normalcy.
“Getting back to a sense of normalcy is going to come in stages, and often there are going to be modifications to the way we used to do things,” 4th District Supervisor Virginia Bass said in the release. “Getting the daily LAX flight back is one of those stages that we’re thrilled is opening up. And at the same time, the community needs to really continue to stay committed to staying safe and following the Health Officer’s guidance so we can safely enjoy more of the things we’ve been missing.”