Inaugural flight links All America City to the infamous Sin City: Las Vegas By Mark Baylis/Staff Writer A packed plane - complete with champagne, a show girl and Elvis himself - took the inaugural flight from the Santa Maria Public Airport to Las Vegas Friday night, giving local vacationers a new route to Sin City. A reported 148 people boarded the nearly sold-out Allegiant Air flight amid inaugural festivities. The new service is the first direct flight between the two cities in decades, city officials said. The flights will operate twice a week between Santa Maria Public Airport and McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. A diverse group of passengers filled the normally sparse airport lobby Friday night for the 8:20 p.m. flight. Many had gotten tickets during the December promotional sale and were eager to test out the new route. "We're having a girls weekend," said Eileen Sahagon, who was going with two friends. Sahagon said she typically flies out of San Luis Obispo, but thought she'd try the new airline. "We've heard good things," she said. Friday's ground-breaking flight included an Elvis impersonator and a Las Vegas showgirl, who greeted customers and posed for photos before boarding the 150-seat MD-80 jet. Champagne was set to be served on board and customers were given complimentary gifts. Allegiant Air is a Las Vegas-based airline that specializes in linking small to medium cities with the entertainment mecca. The airline currently flies from Las Vegas to two other California cities - Fresno and Palm Springs. Allegiant Air flights will leave Santa Maria at 8:20 p.m. Fridays. Return flights will leave Las Vegas at 6:30 p.m. Sundays and arrive in Santa Maria at 7:40 p.m. Allegiant and city officials hope to add a mid-week flight if things go well. Allegiant expects February and March to have flights 70 percent full and 80 percent full in April. Those projections are good for any airline, officials said. "People are asking for Vegas all the time," said Airport General Manager Gary Rice. "The airport has been in kind of a downward spiral and we bill this as our turnaround." As an incentive to bring Allegiant Air to Santa Maria the airport waived rent, landing fees and permit fees from now until the end of March. That totals about $3,400, according to Rice. Allegiant is the second airline to serve Santa Maria. For the past couple of years one air carrier, United Express, operated by SkyWest, has operated six daily round-trip flights between Santa Maria and Los Angeles. Officials believe the hour gap Friday night between flights of United Express and Allegiant Air won't overburden the airport's resources. For more information on Allegiant Air and the new service to Las Vegas, go to the company Web site at www.allegiantair.com or call (800) 432-3810. Mark Baylis can be reached at 739-2218 or mbaylis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Staff Writer Malia Spencer contributed to this report. January 28, 2006