Allegiant Air to start service to Sonoma County from Las Vegas, Phoenix

Sonoma County has landed a second air carrier at its growing airport with the addition of Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air, which announced Tuesday it will begin offering service from Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport to the gambling mecca and to the Phoenix area starting in May.

The low-cost air carrier, which has come under federal scrutiny recently following several incidents, will begin flying two nonstop flights to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas on May 19 and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport on May 26.

The airline will utilize a single McDonnell Douglas MD-80 for the flights, which will be offered on Thursdays and Sundays to accommodate long-weekend travelers. The aircraft has seating for 166 passengers.

“It’s going to be great for people who want to vacation in Sonoma County and for us to get to spring training. I wish them nothing but success,” Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt said.

Allegiant becomes the second commercial airline to serve Sonoma County. Alaska Airlines started providing nonstop flights from Santa Rosa to Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland in 2007, filling a hole left by the 2001 departure of United Express. It added flights to Las Vegas in 2008, but ended the route in 2012 and replaced it with flights to San Diego. Next week, it will start daily service to John Wayne Airport in Orange County.

Bringing in a second carrier “makes us one or two stops away from almost anywhere in the world,” said Ben Stone, director of the county’s Economic Development Board.

He said the airport addition will boost tourism to Sonoma County and provide easier access for corporate clients who have business here.

Jon Stout, the airport’s manager, said adding Allegiant also could bolster longstanding efforts to attract another airline offering service to Salt Lake City or Denver, which would open up destinations on the East Coast.

“It will show we can support a second carrier,” he said.

But bringing in a budget carrier also comes at the risk of alienating other airlines, including American, which officials had hoped would begin offering service to Phoenix directly from Sonoma County. Stout said conversations with that airline are on hold.

“We’re not sure of the impact,” he said.

Allegiant’s Arizona flight is to a Mesa-based airport about 20 miles outside Phoenix. The metropolitan area’s largest air travel hub, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, is about three miles outside Phoenix.

The new Allegiant service to Sonoma County was part of a large expansion announced this week for the carrier, which added three cities to its map and 22 new nonstop routes.

At a news conference inside the airport terminal, Stout said the deal with Allegiant culminates a decade of talks. He was joined at the podium by Lukas Johnson, vice president of network and pricing for the airline.

Johnson announced that the airline is offering promotional fares of $35 one-way to Las Vegas and $37 to Mesa as long as the travel is booked by March 14. He said one-way fares to Las Vegas following the promotion period will run from $50 to $60.

“It’s gonna be cheap,” he said.