Lincoln to Vegas flights to start Feb. 1
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By RODD CAYTON/Lincoln Journal Star
Travelers soon will have the opportunity to get on a plane at Lincoln Airport at 1 p.m., with a pocket full of gambling money and be a big winner or broke at a quarter past two.
Starting Feb. 1, Allegiant Air will offer service two days a week between Lincoln and Las Vegas, the airline announced Tuesday at Lincoln Airport. Tickets are for sale now.
Flights will depart Lincoln on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 1 p.m., and arrive in Vegas at 1:50 Pacific time. Flights will leave Las Vegas at 7:45 a.m. local time and arrive here at 12:20 p.m., on the same days.
Talks on bringing the service to Lincoln had been going on for two years plus, said Lincoln Airport Authority executive director John Wood on Tuesday.
The service will be aboard an MD-80 series jet, and cater to leisure travelers looking for a short getaway, said Allegiant spokeswoman Tyri Squyres.
“You don’t want to spend all your time driving and waiting around airports for connections,” she said. “You want to get right to your vacation spot and maximize that time.”
The airline says the initial fare is $69 one-way, for tickets purchased at www.allegiantair.com by Dec. 31. Squyres said the regular fare will start at $89, although during peak travel times that may go up. In addition, she said, the airline has partnerships with about 35 Las Vegas-area hotels to offer discounted travel-lodging plans.
About 90,000 Lincoln and central Nebraska residents a year travel to Vegas, Wood said.
Some of those people Wood said he expects to make more trips to Vegas because of the convenience and low cost of the Allegiant service, while some people who haven’t been thinking about visiting Las Vegas will do so, for the same reasons.
If he’s right, and if Allegiant has aircraft available, Squyres said, the service could be expanded in the near future.
Allegiant chose Lincoln because it fits in with the airline’s strategy of going into underserved markets that don’t have low-cost carriers, Squyres said.
The initial flight is shaping up as a party plane. Squyres said when Allegiant starts service to a new city, Elvis and champagne are staples of the inaugural trip.
Reach Rodd Cayton at 473-7107 or rcayton@journalstar.com.
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