Updated @ 1:55 pm

MASCOUTAH, Ill. (AP) -  A struggling Metro East airport is welcoming back a commercial passenger service.

Officials on Tuesday announced that Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel, which halted its service out of MidAmerica in January 2009, will be restoring its flights to Orlando, Fla.

That nonstop service by Allegiant is to begin Nov. 7 and will include twice-weekly flights.

MidAmerica has struggled since opening in 1998, and it lost its last passenger service a decade later.

Since that time the county has largely focused on attracting cargo business to the money-losing airport.

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