Travelers will soon be able to fly from Las Vegas to Southern California on private jets at rates comparable to first-class tickets on major airlines.
Las Vegas-based Cirrus Aviation Services is launching Theos, the company’s first-ever by-the-seat, members-only flying program. It is designed to create a more curated, membership-based access point into private aviation, particularly around high-demand markets like Las Vegas. It will launch Memorial Day weekend.
Think Southern Californians wanting to fly into Las Vegas for a concert, sporting event or some other special occasion. It also works for Las Vegans wanting to go to California on return flights.
Passengers will fly nonstop from Harry Reid International to Van Nuys Airport, one of the world’s busiest general aviation airports, located in suburban Los Angeles. Passengers leave Las Vegas on Fridays and return Sundays for $1,200 a seat.
Rapid growth
Cirrus Aviation is a fast-growing company, launching in 2009 with a single aircraft, it now has a fleet of 30 representing a 2,900 percent increase over that period. Nevada’s largest private jet management company declined to disclose revenue, but Eric Grilly, president of Cirrus Aviation Services, said it has enjoyed “strong double-digit growth” over the years. Late last year, Cirrus Aviation expanded to Dallas and can offer flights from its Love Field base.
“This steady expansion has been driven by consistent demand across core markets like Los Angeles and Las Vegas, alongside broader growth in private aviation and evolving travel preferences,” Grilly said.
The chief executive of a Florida company that specializes in on-demand aircraft charter services and is familiar with the Cirrus operation in Las Vegas confirmed that the use of private aviation is growing more from business needs than luxury flying.
Barry Shevlin, CEO of Tampa, Florida-based FlyUSA, said recent data shows 84 percent of C-suite executives are interested in private aviation, with decision-making largely tied to time savings (77 percent) and scheduling flexibility (74 percent).
“It’s really not about luxury,” Shevlin said in a telephone interview. “It’s about time and control of your own schedule. You can leave on your own timetable, not the airline schedule, and that flexibility is really valuable and really important. I’ve had a number of people tell me how flying privately saves time, prep work and the TSA and everything else. You can leave in 15 minutes instead of spending three hours in a security line.”
Cirrus enjoys the flexibility of having a fleet of 30 aircraft with capacities ranging from five on a small Honda Jet, to 18 on a Gulfstream 550.
The pride of the Cirrus fleet are the five 15-passenger Bombardier Challenger 850 jets.
Challenger 850
The Challenger 850 is 8 feet wide and 6 feet tall “so it’s literally a flying living room,” Grilly said.
“And on this particular plane, we have a cabin attendant, so there’s very high service from the moment you access the (fixed-base operator), the greeting, the boarding of the plane, the service on the plane and then the opportunity for transportation meeting you plane-side, taking you to your hotel or destination.”
Cirrus is a tenant within the Atlantic Aviation terminal on the west side of Reid International, within walking distance of the under-construction Athletics baseball stadium at Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.
‘Modern travelers’
While the Cirrus client base tends to be high-end customers, Grilly prefers to refer to them as “modern travelers.”
Flying on private jets enables passengers the ability to stay away from packed terminals and avoid lengthy Transportation Security Administration security lines.
“Flying private is not an inexpensive proposition,” Grilly said. “But it’s really about those who value efficiency, flexibility and elevated experiences. It does tend to lean towards the affluent. But we have a lot of family travelers and a lot of business travelers.
“We also have a lot of corporate partners that utilize us. I think one of the unique things about Theos is renting and chartering an entire aircraft can be an expensive proposition and there are a lot of other programs out there, like fractional (ownership) that require significant contractual commitments.”
While flying to Southern California through Van Nuys is the first flying opportunity for local residents, Grilly sees a day when Las Vegas can become the originating point for a curated experience, such as weekend trips to Napa Valley wine country in California.
Cirrus also has connections in Arizona and can fly customers to Las Vegas from Scottsdale or Phoenix.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
