Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport Celebrates Beau Rivage Air Program’s One Millionth Passenger

By Chaille Munn, Director of Marketing
Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport

On August 25, Beau Rivage Resort & Casino welcomed its one millionth charter program passenger to the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport (GPT). The milestone took place aboard a Sun Country Flight inbound from St. Pete-Clearwater. Passengers on the 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.

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.”

GPT 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 U.S. 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.”

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 from GPT per day, the program averages seven different cities in-house each night.