Allegiant’s mega expansion: more than twenty new routes, new ground bases

Allegiant Air, the U.S. low-cost carrier, announced on August 10 twenty-two new direct routes. These will expand the airline’s service to 25 U.S. cities.

“One of our identifying characteristics is connecting passengers to destinations where they can enjoy a wide variety of activities,” said Drew Wells, Allegiant’s senior vice president of revenue and network planning. “With this expansion, we continue that tradition by offering customers more affordable options to visit Florida, Arizona, and California during the fall and winter seasons.”

New Allegiant routes

New operating bases

Complementary to the above announcement, Allegiant also communicated plans to establish two new bases during the first quarter of 2022. These will be located at Flint Bishop International Airport (FNT) and Appleton International Airport (ATW) and will have their own aircraft and personnel. The new bases are the centerpiece of the airline’s growth strategy and will bring jobs and economic benefits to these two cities.

“Flint and Appleton have been incredibly successful cities for Allegiant. We have steadily grown our operations there over the years,” Wells said. “It makes a lot of sense to establish aircraft and crew bases in these locations.”

Flint Bishop

Flint Bishop International Airport will see three Airbus A320s and at least 89 crew, maintenance technicians, and ground personnel based. It will begin operations on February 16, 2022, following a $75 million investment.

Nino Sapone, CEO of Flint Bishop International Airport, said about the announcement: “This is the culmination of our great relationship with Allegiant. The airline has grown from representing less than seven percent of our traffic in 2016 to more than 54 percent today.” Allegiant began operating at FNT in 2016 and currently offers eight routes from this airport – Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Punta Gorda, St. Pete and Sarasota, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Phoenix, Arizona. In 2019, Allegiant carried nearly 197,000 passengers to and from Flint.

Appleton

Separately, the investment in Appleton International Airport (ATW) will be $50 million. It will include two Airbus A320s and at least 66 new jobs. Allegiant will begin operating its base at ATW next March 2. Abe Weber, director of Appleton Airport, said that “we are thrilled to partner on this expansion, right in the heart of Wisconsin. This new base will allow us to offer even more destinations.” Allegiant began service at ATW in 2008 and currently offers seven routes: to Orlando, St. Pete, and Punta Gorda, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; Phoenix, Arizona; Savannah, Georgia; and Las Vegas. Allegiant carried in 2019 nearly 147,000 passengers through Appleton.

Allegiant operates a “round-trip” network, with exclusively nonstop flights. The airline has more than 4,200 employees throughout the United States.