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Non-stop flights to Las Vegas coming to Southern Illinois

By Codell Rodriguez, The Soutern

Tuesday, October 23, 2007 11:15 PM CDT

The Southern

MARION - Williamson County Regional Airport has gone from losing the Windy City to gaining Sin City.

John Finyes, director of reservations at Allegiant Air, announced the airline will offer non-stop flights to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas out of Williamson County Regional Airport beginning Feb. 1, 2008, at a press conference Tuesday.

Only last week Mesa Airlines announced it would cancel flights from Marion to Chicago on Nov. 10.

Allegiant's flights will leave Williamson County at 1:25 p.m. Mondays and Fridays and arrive in Las Vegas at 2:55 p.m., with fares as low as $79 one way until May 15, 2008, when it will rise to about $99.

Flights will leave Vegas at 7:25 a.m. and arrive in Marion at 12:45 p.m. Allegiant will use a 150-seat MD-80 jet, the largest plane the airport has ever hosted.

A double-wide trailer has been placed next to the terminal to hold passengers after they pass through security and are waiting for their flight.

Airport manager Doug Kimmel said Allegiant expressed interest in expanding to Marion in November 2006 because of the airport's runway extension to 8,000 feet.

Kimmel said with Mesa Airlines cancelling their service, the partnership with Allegiant could open new doors.

"This is just a tremendous opportunity for our Southern Illinois market to prove itself," Kimmel said.

In addition to proving Marion can prove they have enough of a market to restart flights to Chicago, Kimmel said that Allegiant is also looking at the possibility of flights to Orlando, Fla., depending on the success of the flights to Las Vegas.

Finyes said the flights to Las Vegas also offer the opportunity of anyone looking to reach the western United States.

"Vegas could be a gateway to the west," Finyes said.

Marion will be Allegiant's sixth Illinois market, with services also in Rockford, Peoria, Springfield, Champaign and Belleville.

"Illinois has been a friend to Allegiant and hopefully Allegiant will be a friend to Illinois," Finyes said.

codell.rodriguez@thesouthern.com

351-5804