Airline cuts, gas woes making Vegas tougher ticket

Soaring fuel prices are forcing airlines to cut flights and jack up fares to this desert oasis. Road trips have become luxury travel with gasoline costing more than $4 a gallon.

And tourists who do make it to Las Vegas are spending less, leading casinos to offer deals just to keep them in their resorts.

"The overall economic uncertainty this country is facing ... makes the outlook for the next several months very murky," said Gary Thompson, spokesman for Harrah's Entertainment Inc., owner of seven Las Vegas casinos.

US Airways Group Inc. announced last week that it was cutting nearly half its Las Vegas flights as part of companywide belt-tightening. That will leave 74 US Airways flights per day by the end of the year, down from a peak of 141 in September 2007.

The result is more than 8,000 fewer seats available per day, compared to the 2007 peak, according to data from the Clark County Department of Aviation. US Airways was the second-largest carrier to Las Vegas behind Southwest Airlines.

"We've seen airlines increase and decrease service periodically. Clearly, never to this extent all at once," said Alan Feldman, a spokesman for MGM Mirage Inc., which owns 10 casinos on the Las Vegas Strip and plans to open CityCenter next year.

The flight cuts are another hit in what is shaping up to be a rough year for Las Vegas casinos. Casino officials and industry analysts say the slump is a result of economic complaints felt around the country--rising gas and food prices, home foreclosures and general uncertainty.

"As far as filling the rooms, the lack of airline service I think is going to have an impact on the entire community," Thompson said.

Nightly room prices were down 4 percent in Las Vegas compared to one year ago and gambling revenue was down 3.7 percent, according to data through April from the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority. Total airline passengers through April were down 1.8 percent and traffic from California was down 4.8 percent.