Migrating snowbirds and warm weather weekenders lined up together at the Allegiant Air airport ticket counter Wednesday evening to take the airline's first Phoenix-bound flight out of town.

Allegiant Air launched its first Rapid City-Phoenix nonstop flight on Wednesday. The airline will fly twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays, between Rapid City Regional Airport and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Ariz.

Warm-weather weekenders Mac and Lois Meyer of Rapid City were traveling to Phoenix with Lois' son, John Arneson of Spearfish, and his fiancee, Chelsea Sieg, for the Thanksgiving weekend.

They had a sister, a brother and an aunt to visit. They like the convenience of a nonstop flight, especially on the holiday weekend.

"We wouldn't have gone if we had to go through Denver," Mac Meyer said. "No telling how long we'd get stuck there."

The Meyers travel twice a year to Phoenix. With the new service, they said, they will likely go more often.

Larry and Irene Eddy of Rapid City are former snowbirds who now stay year-round in South Dakota - but travel often.

They are spending a week in the Phoenix area, primarily visiting their son, who lives in Union Hills, northeast of Phoenix.

"I think this is great," Irene said as they waited to board their plane.

Airport officials had set up a small putting green near the line, allowing passengers to try their hand while waiting to check in. Those who managed to sink a putt won a chance for a free round trip for two to Phoenix.

Otherwise, there wasn't a lot of fanfare at Rapid City Regional Airport. (When the airline launched its Las Vegas route, Allegiant brought in an Elvis impersonator and a Las Vegas showgirl.) The low-key launch could be due in part to the late hour: 6:15 p.m. arrival and 6:55 p.m. departure.

But the traveler response to the new Phoenix route has not been low-key at all, said Tyri Squyres, spokeswoman for Allegiant Air. She said Wednesday's inaugural flight out of Rapid had only one empty seat. The arriving flight had just five empty seats.

"One thing we didn't expect is to have this kind of traffic on the return flight," she said.

The new route was a bit of a gamble for the Las Vegas-based airline. In the past, the specialty low-cost carrier has offered nonstop service from Midwestern and Western cities to well-known warm-weather resort towns of Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla.

The airline began service from Rapid City to Las Vegas in July 2005. Despite Rapid City's relatively small size, the route has been a success. In fact, Allegiant recently bumped its Rapid City-Las Vegas schedule to four flights per week, primarily for rodeo fans attending the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

Phoenix has the warm weather, but it isn't as well known as a destination. Yet bookings have been strong, Squyers said. "Phoenix as a destination has exceeded our expectations," she said.

The planes go both ways, and Rapid City tourism officials say they see an opportunity to bring Phoenix area travelers to the Black Hills.

Michelle Lintz, head of the Rapid City Convention & Visitors Bureau, said local snowbirds - Northerners who spend winters in Arizona - are already doing a lot of word-of-mouth advertising for the Black Hills. They tell their Phoenix friends about the (relatively) cool summers and local attractions in South Dakota.

"We're going to help that marketing effort a little bit," she said.

Early next year, the convention bureau plans to make the rounds of Phoenix area travel agents and other groups to promote the Black Hills as a summer destination.

She said her agency is considering a similar marketing effort in Las Vegas.

Allegiant offered introductory one-way fares as low as $69, ($154.30 round trip with taxes and fees; $162.80 if you book online). Afterward, regular one-way fares will be in the neighborhood of $89. The airline offers airfare, car-rental and hotel packages featuring more than 20 resorts in the Phoenix area.

Mason Short, airport executive director, said Phoenix was already the No. 4 market for air travel to and from Rapid City. The top three markets - Las Vegas, Denver and Minneapolis - already have nonstop service from Rapid City, Short said.

About 15,000 to 18,000 people a year make the Rapid City-Phoenix trip, about half of them originating in Phoenix, Short said.

Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, a former Air Force training base that closed in 1993, is used primarily by flight schools and general aviation pilots. But it has been marketing itself as a less-congested alternative to Phoenix's sprawling Sky Harbor International Airport.

Contact Dan Daly at 394-8421 or dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com