Just in time for holiday air travel, service from the SeaTac City Center/Sea-Tac International Airport light-rail station will begin Saturday, Dec. 19.

Opening ceremonies will start at 9 a.m. with a ribbon cutting featuring Sound Transit board chairman and outgoing Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels as well as SeaTac, Port of Seattle and Sound Transit officials.

The officials will then take the first train leaving the new station and, at about 10 a.m., the doors will open for the general public.

Sound Transit staffers will be on hand to assist riders.

Unlike on July 18, when inaugural light-rail service began at the Tukwila station and 11 others, the first weekend will not be free.

The fare between the SeaTac/airport station and the Westlake station in downtown Seattle is $2.50. Light rail operates from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 6 a.m. to midnight on Sundays.

The opening of the 1.7 mile link between the station at International Boulevard and South 176th Street and the Tukwila station located at Tukwila International Boulevard and South 154th Street is the final phase of the originally planned light-rail line.

The SeaTac/airport station portion was scaled back after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack, according to Sound Transit spokesman Bruce Gray. Federal funding had been approved for the Tukwila to Seattle line so the transit agency needed to move ahead on construction.

Since July 18, free shuttle busses have been moving riders between the Tukwila station and the airport.

Gray said the new station was set to open by the end of the year so Sound Transit is pleased it is open by mid-December.

"It was a long time coming so we are ecstatic to open in time for the holidays and end 2009 on a high note," Gray declared.

Gray noted that he has already heard from residents from as far away as England and Germany who are planning to fly into Sea-Tac for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver B.C., opening in February.

In March 2008, Sound Transit approved a $72 million contract with Mowat Construction to build the station. Mowat's original bid came in at $95.3 million --$43.5 million above the engineer's estimate.

Air travelers will be able to connect with the airport through the airport garage on a pedestrian walkway. Passengers can follow a separated guide way through the garage to the main terminal. Luggage carts will be placed at the station.

"Completing this project with Sound Transit is a suburb example of how public agencies can work successfully together to meet the region's needs," Port of Seattle Commissioner John Creighton said. "With more than 30 million passengers through Sea-Tac every year, and 15,000 employees, we anticipate light rail will be a welcome 'green' alternative for travel to and from the airport."

Riders can also take a sky bridge over International Boulevard to a "kiss 'n ride" lot.

SeaTac city officials have big plans for the area across from the station.

In a press release, SeaTac Mayor Ralph Shape said, "The City of SeaTac has worked diligently to prepare for the arrival of light rail and the related positive impacts to our community and neighborhoods near the SeaTac/Airport light rail station.

"We believe the location of this station offers great mixed-use development opportunities. In fact, we are laying the groundwork to encourage transit-oriented development within this station area.

"The vision for this development is a new city center featuring restaurants, entertainment venues, shopping and other commercial uses. We are actively seeking partners to work with us on the 82-acre site located just across the new pedestrian bridge from Sea-Tac International Airport."

However, opposition from some business owners and residents to proposed zoning changes led city council members to declare a six-month moratorium on development permits in the area less than two months before the new station opens.

Lawmakers also voted to condemn the Dollar park n ride faculty at 17400 International Blvd. City officials want to use the property currently owned by James and Doris Cassan for a public parking garage for the patrons of the planned city center/entertainment district.

The SeaTac Planning Commission, a citizens advisory panel, has voted unanimously to recommend the moratorium and eminent domain action be rescinded.

Planning Commission chairman Rick Forschler will be sworn in as a newly-elected councilman in January.

Despite a public relations effort launched by the Cassans, Acting Manager Todd Cutts said a Dec. 7 open house revealed strong support among residents for the city center project.

In the future, three new area light-rail stations will be added at South 200th Street in SeaTac, near Highline Community College in Des Moines and South 172nd Street in Federal Way.

The voter-approved expansion will also add light rail to Lynnwood and the Eastside. A University of Washington station is set to open in 2016.

Nickels has noted that within 14 years, light-rail will connect with 70 percent of the Puget Sound area's population and 80 percent of area jobs.