The Westwood FlyAway bus has expanded its service between UCLA and Los Angeles International Airport for students and residents flying for Thanksgiving this week.

On Tuesday, there will be direct bus trips from De Neve Plaza to LAX every 30 minutes, from noon to 8 p.m. A more frequent direct service between De Neve Plaza and LAX on Wednesday will run every 15 minutes from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

BruinBus will shuttle students from Lot 36, where the FlyAway stops, to De Neve Plaza and Hedrick Hall from 8:30 a.m. to midnight on Sunday.

In addition, hours on Sunday and Monday will be extended to 6 a.m. to midnight, compared to the regular hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

“We’re just trying to expand the options available to students trying to travel home,” said David Karwaski, senior associate director for planning policy and traffic systems for UCLA Transportation.

While these changes will provide more flexibility for students’ holiday flight plans, they also hold financial significance for the FlyAway service, Karwaski said.

The FlyAway service has faced reduced ridership and budget reductions over the last year, reporting deficits of $1 million for the line connecting to Westwood alone. UCLA Transportation, in coordination with Westwood FlyAway, has recently launched campaigns to increase patronage among UCLA students, including an extension of the Westwood bus lane to the Hill.

Efforts to increase demand and use of the FlyAway bus over the holiday season are intended to boost profitability of the Westwood FlyAway, Karwaski said.

For some students traveling this week, the bus’s convenience trumps its recently increased fee, which rose from $5 to $10 in late September.

“(The Flyaway is) more convenient, especially if you don’t have easy access to a friend who has a car,” said Renee Yun, a second-year biology student who has used the Westwood FlyAway in the past.

In spite of the new hours and expanded service to the Hill, some students may continue to use other travel means to get to LAX for the holidays. Connie Wang, a second-year undeclared student, said she would be more likely to borrow her friend’s car or use another service if she needed to travel to the airport.

The increased $10 fare and the fact that the buses only run by the hour are what make the Flyaway inconvenient between the holidays, Wang said.