Allegiant Air begins service to Las Vegas

11/22/2011

The first Allegiant Air jet to serve a new Knoxville-to-Las Vegas route touched down about 12:30 p.m. Friday at McGhee Tyson Airport, with about 90 passengers — including "Elvis" and "Brandy," a Las Vegas showgirl.

There was lots of fanfare for the inaugural flight of Las Vegas-based Allegiant's new service. The Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, which operates McGhee Tyson and Downtown Island airports, arranged a water cannon salute as the airliner landed and the first passengers to deplane were Las Vegas Elvis impersonator Harry Shahoian and Brandy Wood, a Las Vegas showgirl representing Allegiant and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.

McGhee Tyson Airport saw a 7.8 percent increase in passengers for September, with five airlines reporting year-over-year increases in their September passenger numbers.

Bill Marrison, Airport Authority president, said the new Las Vegas service will offer flights to one of the most popular destinations for East Tennesseans and, along with the Denver service provided by Frontier, will help open up travel to other points west. The Allegiant flights will use 217-passenger Boeing 757 jetliners, which Marrison said are the largest commercial aircraft to be served by McGhee Tyson to date.

"With Allegiant's large jets and direct flights to Las Vegas, passengers will have more choices when flying into and out of McGhee Tyson Airport," Howard Vogel, Airport Authority chairman, said in a prepared statement.

The flights will operate each Monday and Friday between McGhee Tyson and McCarran International Airport, with information on flight times available at www.allegiantair.com.

Becky Huckaby, Airport Authority spokeswoman, said the return flight from Knoxville to Las Vegas on Friday was completely booked.

Source: Knox News Sentinel