Low-fare carrier Independence Air officially introduced itself to Pittsburgh yesterday, extolling the benefits of new airline competition as it prepares to launch eight daily nonstop flights to Washington Dulles International Airport starting Aug. 23.

"There is a low-fare revolution happening all across America," Independence Air spokesman Rick DeLisi told a small audience at Pittsburgh International Airport yesterday. "Starting on Aug. 23, it is coming to Pittsburgh."

Local officials hailed the carrier's arrival, first announced in May, as a sign that the airport can attract low-cost competition even as US Airways is planning to cut a third of its local flights. Standing near the ticket counters at Pittsburgh International, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato said, "It's good to be here to talk about something other than what the fate of US Airways is."

With the arrival of Independence Air, Pittsburgh International now has five low-cost carriers serving local passengers, said Allegheny County Airport Authority Executive Director Kent George, naming America West, ATA, AirTran Airways and USA 3000 as the other four. As a group, the five will offer about 20 daily flights out of a total of 446 as of Aug. 23.

George is chasing after a slew of others -- including Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines -- while the airport authority develops a September advertising campaign touting its new carriers and expanded service. "We have been very clear that there is a strong market here," he said. "Look what has happened."

As US Airways has slowly pulled flights from Pittsburgh International and announced its intention for deeper cuts by November, Continental Express added service to Cleveland; ATA introduced new service to Chicago's Midway Airport; American Airlines started service to Miami; and USA 3000 began serving three cities in Florida. Northwest Airlines also is reinstating two daily flights to Memphis, Tenn., on Aug. 16; AirTran is adding another flight to Orlando, Fla., in October; and United Airlines is adding two new daily flights to Denver that month.

When Independence Air begins local service in 19 days, it will offer prices as low as $39 one way and no higher than $92. Based in the Washington, D.C. area, Independence will be using a 50-seat plane to make the 42-minute trip, while employing 16 locally.

Travelers on Independence Air will be able to connect to 27 other cities through Dulles, but the carrier does not plan to serve any other cities directly from Pittsburgh, spokesman Rick DeLisi said.

Founded in 1989 as Atlantic Coast Airlines, Independence is looking to gain ground on US Airways, the region's dominant carrier. Until recently, it carried passengers for the now-bankrupt United Airlines but is now challenging US Airways not only in Dulles and Pittsburgh, but also in its Charlotte, N.C.; New York; and Boston strongholds.

US Airways announced yesterday that it would be matching Independence Air's low $29 fare from Charlotte to Dulles, but did not say whether it was making similar plans to match the carrier on fares from Pittsburgh to Dulles.

But if past is prelude, such a move will be likely, which means Independence Air could be facing tough odds in the Pittsburgh market, especially since US Airways and United both serve the same route and US Airways has declared its intent to remain the airport's largest carrier.

Pittsburgh International, in fact, is littered with past failures of promising low-fare carriers that came and went. In the mid-1990s, ValuJet, Nation's Air and JetTrain all started and then dropped service from Pittsburgh.

ValuJet later changed its name to AirTran and, amid high expectations, launched service to New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Atlanta from Pittsburgh, but later dropped the New York, Philadelphia and Chicago flights due to a lack of local support. Airport officials are afraid the same could happen with Independence Air.

US Airways spokesman David Castelveter contended yesterday that the airline "never tried to keep new competition out."

"That being said, [Independence's expansion] just underscores the kind of challenges we face."

US Airways, which is trying to lower its costs by $1.5 billion and avoid filing for a second bankruptcy this fall, faces new competition from a variety of low-cost rivals, including Independence Air, JetBlue and Southwest, which recently launched service in Philadelphia.

"All of these low-cost carriers are growing at a rapid pace, and they are in markets where they know they will hurt us with our existing cost structure," Castelveter said. "For us to compete with Independence in Pittsburgh or Southwest in Philadelphia, we have to have a competitive cost structure."

Independence Air did what it could yesterday to make people aware of the new competition, even hosting a Rivers Club reception with 140 local travel agents and corporate travel planners.

DeLisi, the spokesman, argued that Pittsburgh would benefit greatly from the new business. New low-fare competition, he said, will not only lower ticket prices, but it also will cause more people to fly more while stimulating the local economy. Independence Air wants "to shake things up," he said.