Ocean Reef is pleased to welcome Vision Airlines to the Emerald Coast. This new, low cost carrier will begin commercial air service to the Northwest Florida Regional Destin/Ft. Walton Beach airport, which will operate as a main base for its fleet starting on March 25, 2011! Ocean Reef Resort luxury property owners as well as our visiting rental guests will benefit greatly from the increased, low fare access and ease of convenience.

Updated Article: Which Airlines Fly to Destin?

Vision Airlines is going for a low fare niche market that is currently unavailable from medium sized cities to popular tourist destinations such as ours. Destin/Ft. Walton Beach will serve as a third major base of their operations along with Las Vegas and Miami. Vision Airlines COO David Meers confirmed the low fare rates to the Emerald Coast and said that they will "be flying from cities that have been neglected by large carriers with large aircraft for a number of years." This is certainly the case for many who visit the Emerald Coast who currently drive long distances due to difficult connecting flights and high fares. Meer's goal is to open up "the ability for people from these communities...to go more frequently." The decision to include Destin/Ft. Walton Beach as a major base of operations for the carrier was referenced as "a big draw" for Vision Airlines due to the fact that our area is a "top drive-to destination in Florida." Their goal is to concentrate on low fares with nonstop flights from these cities using Boeing 737s which are usually only available from large hubs such as Atlanta. Round trip tickets will be as low as $98 for their shortest routes and will average $178 round trip from all other origins.

Vision Airlines is certainly a special "hybrid" operation. They began in 1994 as a private charter service out of Las Vegas, shuttling affluent ecotourists to scenic nearby destinations such as the Grand Canyon. Tourists were provided with access to exotic places like the Colorado River for white water rafting or the Monument Valley for hiking. It still remains popular with celebrities and sport teams alike who charter private Vision flights to games or special events. It is also one of the few airlines that provides charter service from New York and Miami to Cuba. Vision Airlines is also known for recent humanitarian aid and even international intrigue! Last year they volunteered pilots, flight crews and jets to fly in a huge amount of supplies to earthquake ravaged Haiti. In July, 2010 the US government contracted Vision Airlines to transport ten Russian Secret Agents who had been captured and deported for a "spy swap" in Vienna, Austria. The agents were flown to Vienna from New York in a negotiated exchange for several Russian prisoners, including a nuclear scientist. They, along with their families, were then flown back to our nation's capital!

Vision Airlines actually began to roll out its service to the Emerald Coast on December 17, 2010 with nonstop flights from Destin/Ft.Walton Beach to Miami and Niagara Falls/Buffalo, NY. The proximity of the latter to major Canadian metropolitan areas has shaved off days of costly travel by car for visiting snowbirds.

Round trip, nonstop service will begin to the Northwest Florida Regional Airport from the other cities as follows:

March 25th includes flights from Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama; Macon and Savannah, Georgia; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Greenville, South Carolina and Knoxville, Tennessee.

March 31st includes flights from Little Rock, Arkansas.

In early April, flights begin from Asheville, North Carolina; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Columbia, South Carolina; Louisville, Kentucky; Orlando, Florida and Shreveport, Louisiana.

In addition to this service, Vision Airlines plans to add cities from out west to the Emerald Coast within the next three years. This will be a huge boon for tourism here adding to national recognition of our crystal white beaches with low cost ease of convenience. It should dove tail rather nicely with the new International Airport which opened last year in Panama City Beach which offers its own nonstop flights from Washington, DC , Nashville, Orlando and Houston. The airline industry is starting to put us on the map, so to speak.  Within the next decade the Emerald Coast will become well known both nationally and internationally as having the most beautiful beaches in the entire world! Of course, here at Ocean Reef, we already knew that.  Our loyal guests and extended family have already made this their special "home away from home!"