PALMDALE AIRPORT TAKES OFF SCENIC SAYS ITS PASSENGER FLIGHTS TO N. LAS VEGAS WILL BEGIN DEC. 29.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Scenic Airlines will begin service out of Palmdale Regional Airport on Dec. 29, marking the return of airline service to the Antelope Valley after a nearly seven-year absence.

In an announcement Wednesday at the airport terminal on U.S. Air Force Plant 42, officials said Scenic will operate 10 round-trip flights a week to North Las Vegas Airport using 19-seat DeHavilland Twin Otter Vistaliner aircraft. Introductory fares will be $49 one-way, but regular fares will start at $79.

``I know our residents will embrace this service,'' Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford said. ``I think this will show that the north county is a viable market.''

Scenic Airlines, best known for sightseeing flights over the Grand Canyon, announced nearly a year ago that it hoped to start Palmdale flights in early 2004. But security considerations because Palmdale Regional Airport uses U.S. Air Force Plant 42 runways caused a delay.

Scenic had to remodel its North Las Vegas Airport building to provide a place to keep Palmdale-bound passengers separate after they've been screened, and getting permission took months, officials said.

``The market in California for Las Vegas is huge,'' said Mitzi Daines, Scenic's director of business development. ``This is a perfect place to start in the Southern California market.''

Scenic Airlines, based in North Las Vegas, after the 9-11 attacks diversified its operations to include regional air service, offering flights in and out of Ely, Nev., and Merced, Calif.

Those routes are subsidized by the federal government under a program aimed at restoring air service to communities that lost it as the result of airline deregulation.

The Palmdale service will not be subsidized by the federal government, but it will receive incentives offered by the city of Los Angeles' airport department, which operates the Palmdale Regional Airport.

The incentives include the waiving of maintenance and operations costs, estimated at $776,000 per year, for the next three years.

The airline is also getting a rent break. The airline will not have to pay rent for its first year of operations. Two-thirds of the rent will be cut in the second year and one-third will be cut in the third year, said Mark Thorpe, director of air service marketing for Los Angeles World Airports.

LAWA also has $75,000 allocated to help market the Palmdale service.

Commuter airlines United Express, America West and SkyWest operated out of the Palmdale Regional Airport terminal at Plant 42 in the 1990s - sometimes two airlines at a time. All pulled out after failing to generate profits with their Palmdale operations. The last airline to leave was United Express, which pulled out in February 1998.

The Antelope Valley has become a more mature market now with more people, officials said. The air service will appeal not only to those visiting Las Vegas, but to business travelers, including aerospace industry workers, connecting to other destinations, Thorpe said.

``This is a different market now,'' Thorpe said. ``Look at all the economic development that has occurred here in the last seven years.''

The start of the airline service is being hailed as a step toward building a regional approach to air travel, lessening the load upon Los Angeles International Airport.

``Scenic's service out of Palmdale Regional Airport is an important step in the development of a regional approach to meet Southern California's air travel into the future,'' said county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, a longtime Palmdale airport advocate. ``It will enhance the Antelope Valley economy and provide convenient air travel for north Los Angeles County residents from the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys to San Fernando Valley.''

Palmdale Regional Airport actually operates off 70 acres leased from the Air Force. Under a joint-use agreement, Plant 42 can be used by civilian airlines, offering as many as 50 flights a day, and there are provisions to increase that number to 400.

The 9,000-square-foot terminal is located at 41000 20thSt. E., just north of Avenue P. The airport is capable of handling up to 300,000 passengers annually.

Officials of the LAWA believe the airport has the potential to handle 900,000 to 1.5 million passengers a year.

People can book flights online at www.scenic.com or by calling [phone].

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) This is one of Scenic Airlines planes that will be used in service between Palmdale and North Las Vegas. Service is scheduled to start Dec. 29.

(2) From left, Barbara La Fata, Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford and Jenny Peterson try out seats of one of the Scenic Airlines planes.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer