• by Tanya Gazdik , June 6, 2012

Virgin America launched its new service to Portland, Oregon with a quirky promotion.

Teaming with IFC, the airline marked the new route with marketing stunts that played off the popular TV show “Portlandia.”

Guests on the first flight included actor Kyle MacLachlan, the fictional mayor of the city in the TV series, and the real mayor, Sam Adams (who makes cameo appearances on the show as a mayoral assistant.)

The Portland service, which includes two daily nonstop flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco, marks the 18^th city in the carrier’s expanding network.

Guests onboard Virgin America's first SFO-PDX flight were welcomed at a Portland-themed celebration in an aircraft hangar -- just steps off the PDX runway.

Guests at the hangar event include winners of a unique "Portlandia" promotion. In a nod to one of the show's cult favorite sketches -- "Put a Bird On It" -- where characters apply pictures of birds to everyday items, turning them into instant "art" -- the airline and IFC teamed up to create an "Arts & Aircrafts" Facebook competition that invited guests to upload their favorite photos and "put a bird on it" to score a discount off Virgin America's new PDX flights.

The top voted photo winners scored an invite to the Portland event, where celebrated DJ AndrewAndrew took the spirit of the "Portlandia" sketch "Everybody's a DJ" to new heights, with interactive iPad DJ sessions for guests. IFC and Virgin America continue their partnership later this summer, offering guests the chance to win a walk-on role in season three of the hit original series.  

In honor of its newest route, Virgin America also launched a "We Put a Bird on Portland" fare sale on select routes.  PDX-LAX fares start from $135 and PDX-SFO fares start from $94.