Allegiant Air adds third Florida destination to HIA schedule

The year-round nonstop Harrisburg service to Punta Gorda Airport in Carhlotte county north of Fort Myers was part of Allegiant’s announcement Thursday of nine new routes and service to two new cities – Dayton, OH and Flint, Mich. To celebrate the expansion, the airline was offering one-way fares to Dayton and Flint for as low as $29. Allegiant now flies to 49 cities from St. Pete-Clearwater, which is the fastest-growing airport in the Allegiant system.

Mr. Ralenkotter said the route has “performed exceptionally well for us”.

Allegiant is responsible for record passenger traffic at St. Pete-Clearwater. Next year, the airport expects to handle more than 1.75 million passengers.

Jude Bricker, Allegiant Travel Company senior vice president of planning also commented on the increase stating: “Allegiant is pleased to offer more flights between Pittsburgh and Myrtle Beach, meeting the increasing demand for this attractive vacation destination”.

The new routes from Dayton include year-round nonstop service to St. Pete-Clearwater worldwide Airport beginning on April 13, and flights to Orlando-Sanford global Airport beginning April 14.

A 67-percent increase is planned for low-priced, nonstop flights to South Carolina’s beaches, and service will increase from three times to five times a week during peak operating season, according to a press release.

The new schedules will begin in February and April.

When Flint and Dayton land on Allegiant’s route map, the airline will develop routes to Florida destinations, but not Las Vegas.

Allegiant will be starting its seasonal twice weekly service to Myrtle Beach April 7 next year, two months earlier than this year.

The company caters to vacation travelers and doesn’t market itself to business fliers. But Allegiant officials say the airline is one of the nation’s safest and said pilots are bad-mouthing the airline as a ploy in negotiations.

Allegiant continues to grow despite a series of incidents over the summer, including a few that affected flights to and from the St. Pete-Clearwater airport.

Southwest inherited Flint and Dayton when Air Tran Airways was acquired in a merger. Allegiant jumped on the opportunity quickly.

“We want to strike while the iron is hot and make sure that passengers out there know they have an option for nonstop service starting next year”, Johnson said.