ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- There's another way to head south for for Rochester folks.

Allegiant Airlines held a ceremony at the Greater Rochester International Airport Friday morning to celebrate its inaugural flight to Punta Gorda in south west Florida. Local officials were on hand for the event.

Allegiant now offers twice-weekly, round-trip flights to Punta Gorda and Sanford airport outside Orlando.

The airline says they'll keep adding flights when there's passenger demand.

"We are thrilled to continue our expansion here in Rochester with this new flight  to Punta Gorda," said Zachary Kramer, Allegiant Airlines. "We've seen great success so far with our flights to Orlando-Sanford. So it means the people here are going to have a convenient, non-stop affordable option to get to south west Florida. Something that, you know talking with everyone, they seem very excited to do so."

Allegiant has been flying out of Rochester since 2015.