=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2003/02/19/s= tate1950EST0146.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, February 19, 2003 (AP) Allegiant Air to begin flights between Las Vegas and Wichita (02-19) 16:50 PST LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Allegiant Air will begin nonstop air service next week between Wichita, Kan., and southern Nevada, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said Wednesday. Maurice J. Gallagher, airline chairman, called the flight between Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita and McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas an exciting development for the airline. Las Vegas tourism officials said Midwest travelers accounted for almost = 15 percent of domestic airline passengers at McCarran, the nation's seventh-largest airport. Officials said that following a company ceremony at Mid-Continent Airport on Tuesday, 40 Wichita travel agents will fly to Las Vegas on Allegiant Air as convention authority guests. They'll return to Wichita on Allegiant's inaugural flight on Feb. 27. The new flight, using 161-seat MD-83 aircraft, will operate Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays and Mondays. Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air was founded in 1997 and is privately owned. It also flies between Las Vegas and Colorado Springs, Colo., and Fresno, Calif. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 AP