Beau Rivage's air program celebrates one millionth passenger

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Today Beau Rivage Resort & Casino welcomed its one millionth charter program passenger to the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport. The milestone took place aboard Sun Country Flight SCX 8179 inbound from St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport at 12:40 p.m. local time. Passengers on Sun Country 173-seat 737-800 aircraft were greeted with a water cannon salute on the tarmac alongside Beau Rivage charter services employees, Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport staff, elected officials and dignitaries. Cake, champagne, commemorative gifts and photos also accompanied the red carpet welcome.

Beau Rivage’s scheduled charter air program formally launched in 2009 following a post-Hurricane Katrina $550-million resort renovation, and has been partnered with Sun Country Airlines since 2014. Since its inception, the program has flown more than 8,000 flights from 90 cities nationwide, from Minneapolis to Miami and New Hampshire to West Texas.

“MGM Resorts International guests from around the country love to visit the Gulf Coast and our goal with this program has always been to make that travel as easy as possible,” said Beau Rivage President and COO Brandon Dardeau. “The charter program has elevated all of Coastal Mississippi, including our 1,740-room AAA Four Diamond resort on the beach in Biloxi, from a regional destination to a national market.”

Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport Executive Director Clay Williams said “Beau Rivage has worked strategically over the years to exponentially grow its air charter program, bringing visitors to the Coast from 90 cities across the US. With this effort to attract additional fly-in visitors, the Beau Rivage air program has grown to comprise approximately 25 percent of the air service at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport.”

Tiered-pricing packages are offered to casino players and leisure travelers and include roundtrip airfare, multi-night accommodations, baggage delivery service and roundtrip transportation between Beau Rivage and GPT. Since its inception, Beau Rivage’s air charter program has generated 1.6 million hotel room nights at the resort. With two incoming and two outgoing flights per day, the program averages seven different cities in-house each night. Top travel markets include Detroit, St. Louis, San Antonio, Richmond, Va, and Macon, Ga. Clearwater-St. Pete is the No. 1 market.

“Sun Country has been a proud partner of MGM Resorts and Beau Rivage since 2014,” said Grant Whitney, Chief Revenue Officer of Sun Country Airlines. “We are thrilled to celebrate the one millionth passenger that our program has brought to this world-class property and are excited about our future relationship with MGM Resorts/Beau Rivage and their loyal customers.”