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San Diego will soon be getting a lot more nonstop flights to Vegas

In a first for Alaska Airlines, the carrier will be offering daily nonstop flights between San Diego and Las Vegas, beginning Oct. 1, it announced Thursday.

The new route, which Alaska plans to operate up to four times a day, marks its 39th nonstop destination out of San Diego International Airport — more than any other airline serving San Diego.

The number of daily flights will vary but in general there will be four flights to Las Vegas on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, and two a day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, according to an Alaska Airlines spokesperson. The new route is currently open for booking on Alaska’s website.

San Diego already has fairly robust nonstop service to Las Vegas, most notably from Southwest Airlines, which offers between eight and 14 flights a day. On Sundays, the average can be as high as 12 to 14 a day, said San Diego airport spokesperson Fernando Alcala. Other airlines flying nonstop to Vegas are Delta, Frontier and Spirit.

In recent years, Alaska has been rapidly expanding its presence in San Diego, frequently introducing new nonstop routes. Next month, the airline will start flying nonstop to Atlanta from San Diego. The first flight is May 16.

“Alaska Airlines is committed to ongoing growth in San Diego — America’s finest city is a key priority market for Alaska, and we’re proud to serve the most nonstop destinations of any airline out of San Diego,” Neil Thwaites, regional Vice President of California for Alaska Airlines, said in an emailed comment. “We’re continuously working to fill the gaps in our existing network where our guests want to fly. We know Las Vegas is an important destination for San Diegans and a noticeable gap in our existing network that we’re filling with this announcement.”

In total, 1,400 passengers per day, each way, traveled between San Diego and Las Vegas on nonstop flights last year on four different airlines, Alcala said. Southwest led the way with 900 passengers flying each way daily.

News of Alaska’s Las Vegas nonstop flight came the same day that Southwest said it would be limiting its hiring and that it will also stop flying to four smaller airports in Mexico and the U.S., an apparent response to disappointing financial results and delays in getting new planes from Boeing.