If what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, then more and more Lincoln travelers are bringing home secrets.

Allegiant Air’s traffici made Las Vegas the top destination out of Lincoln as of Sept. 30, leapfrogging direct-flight destinations Chicago, Minneapolis and Denver.

According to the Lincoln Airport Authority, 29,570 people flew from Lincoln to Las Vegas in the 12 months from Sept. 30, 2006 to Sept. 30, 2007 — 85 percent of them on Allegiant.

That’s a 41 percent increase, and enough to push Las Vegas to the top of the destination list.

Allegiant, which increased its Lincoln passenger numbers 33 percent  in calendar year 2007, continued to be the lone bright spot when it comes to passenger numbers at the Lincoln airport.

Fewer than  337,000 people flew into and out of Lincoln last year, a decrease of 12 percent from 2006, and the lowest number of passengers at the airport since 1984.

The decline has continued into this year, with passenger numbers for January down 6 percent over January 2007.

Airport Executive Director John Wood called the numbers, “very discouraging.”

What’s most discouraging to Wood is that Lincoln continues to lose airplane seats.

Northwest, which pared its Detroit in 2005 and eliminated service to Memphis in 2006, last year cut one of its flights to Minneapolis last spring.

The cut was initially said to be temporary, but the flight has not been restored.

That leaves Northwest with five daily departures out of Lincoln — four to Minneapolis and one to Detroit.

A little more than two years ago, Northwest had 10 daily departures to three cities.

 Wood said history has shown that when more are available, the more passengers will fly out of the Lincoln Airport.

As an example, Wood offered up total seat figures for December.

Even though Northwest had 2,500 fewer seats available in December 2007 compared with December 2006, it actually filled a slightly lower percentage of them. United also had more seats in December 2006 and filled a higher percentage of them.

Phyllis Chambers, the chairwoman of the Airport Authority, called the situation frustrating for the board, “and it’s very frustrating for travelers.”

She said there are a multitude of issues the airport deals with in trying to get more service.

Airlines are struggling with fuel costs and capacity issues, and many, including Northwest and United, are not that far removed from bankruptcy.

Plus, every other airport out there is vying for more service from the airlines, Chambers said.

Many have been successful.

Airports in Omaha, Sioux Falls and Rapid City, S.D., and Des Moines, Sioux City and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, all added either new airlines or new flight destinations last year.

Both Chambers and Wood said  the airport continues to talk to airlines about increasing service.

“We have been talking with four to five airlines for years,” Wood said.

“But it’s impossible so far to get anybody to consider Lincoln with 20 airlines in Omaha,” he said.

Wood is hoping that may change, though.

He said the airport has been  in extended discussions with two airlines, which he did not identify, about adding new service.

The most likely candidates would seem to be Trans States Airlines, which has been in discussions with the airport about restarting flights to St. Louis for American Airlines, and Allegiant, which flies to three other destinations — Phoenix, Orlando and the Tampa Bay area of Florida — that are among the 25 most popular out of Lincoln.

Allegiant, however, has shown no signs of adding service in Lincoln.

Tyri Squyres, an Allegiant spokeswoman, said the company is “satisfied with our presence in the Lincoln market.”

“Since inaugurating service to Las Vegas … the market has consistently grown and shown improvement,” she said.  “We believe that our current schedule is meeting the community's demand for low-cost, nonstop service and at this point do not have any near term plans for growth.”

Wood said he’s hoping the airport can add service this year, but with the economy headed for a slowdown, “I don’t know where it’s going.”

Chambers said none of the airlines are unprofitable in Lincoln, and the airport should be attractive to “any airline that wants to make money.”

“We just have to get their attention,” she said. “We’re always optimistic, but we have to be realistic, too.”

Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.