ELKO -- Red Lion Inn & Casino is suspending the longtime Casino Express flights that bring gamblers into Elko because of low passenger counts, higher fuel costs and competition from other casinos, company officials said.

The suspension effective Feb. 1 is likely to have a negative economic impact on the community as well as result in layoffs of local employees, said George Schweitzer, who is the interim chief executive officer of McClaskey Holdings, which owns the Red Lion.

"The good news is that the job market is fairly strong," he told the Elko Daily Free Press, adding that he hopes the suspension is temporary.

The flights bring in about 40,000 people a year, said Lisa Dunn, chief executive officer of Xtra Airways, which flies the charter planes for the Casino Express program.

"It's very sad," she said.

McClaskey properties employ close to 700 when the High Desert Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Gold Country Inn and Thunderbird Motel are included.

Dunn said when Casino Express flights stop, the airline won't be landing jets at Elko Regional Airport on a regular basis, which will affect the airport.

"Unless the Red Lion gets the program going again, we will not have any flights into Elko," Dunn said, adding that the airport will lose out on landing fees and passenger facility charges.

Red Lion has been flying gamblers into Elko since 1986.