Expansion mode: Allegiant unveils 22 new nonstop routes
Allegiant Air will add new service to hot spots in Florida, Arizona and California as part of a 22-route expansion to be announced Tuesday.
Phoenix was the big winner, with Allegiant's base at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA) landing seven of the new routes.
Most airlines serving Phoenix fly from the city’s Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), which is a hub for American and a major base for Southwest. But Mesa – a secondary airport located about 35 miles southeast of downtown Phoenix – is one of the busiest in Allegiant’s network.
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Allegiant enjoys a dominant position there, one of just three domestic carriers to fly from the airport. The addition of the seven new routes – which span from Flint, Michigan (FNT), to Orange County, California (SNA) – will give Allegiant a total of 52 nonstop seasonal and year-round destinations from Mesa.
Another of the new Mesa routes – to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) – puts Allegiant into head-to-head competition with Sun County Airlines, a rival budget carrier that appears to have touched off a turf war last month when it announced plans to fly to Punta Gorda, Florida (PGD) – another Allegiant stronghold.
Allegiant’s twice-weekly service between Mesa and MSP will launch Nov. 24 – the same day Sun Country is scheduled to begin its own service on the same route. Sun Country, which is headquartered in Minnesota, also serves Sky Harbor airport in addition to Mesa.
Budget carrier battle: Sun Country appears to retaliate against Allegiant
Elsewhere, Allegiant’s latest expansion will add multiple routes from several cities. Most are to the "surf or sun" destinations that are the backbone of Allegiant's network.
Among those are Palm Springs, California (PSP), and Fort Lauderdale (FLL), each of which will get three new routes.
The Palm Springs routes – to Des Moines (DSM), Iowa; Indianapolis (IND); and Provo, Utah (PVU) – will be seasonal, scheduled to end in the spring. Still, they'll nearly double Allegiant’s footprint in Palm Springs, giving it a total of seven nonstop destinations there.
More: What pandemic? Palm Springs is booming with new flight, but is it sustainable?
Also seasonal are Allegiant’s new routes from Austin (AUS), where new to Punta Gorda and West Palm Beach (PBI) also are expected to end in the spring. With the routes, Allegiant will now fly to 17 seasonal or year-round destinations from the Texas capital.
And in Florida, Allegiant’s presence in Punta Gorda will grow to 56 nonstop destinations and Fort Lauderdale to 23 once the latest routes commence.
A full list of the new Allegiant routes announced on Tuesday are below. All cities getting multiple routes are shown, meaning some routes are listed more than once. Allegiant plans to begin all of the new routes with a schedule of two flights per week.
Lone Star roots: Allegiant opening base in Austin, becomes latest to double down on Texas capital
Allegiant's new nonstop routes
Mesa-Phoenix, Arizona (AZA)
- Amarillo, Texas (AMA): Flights begin Nov. 18
- Flint, Michigan (FNT): Flights begin Nov. 18
- Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP): Flights begin Nov. 24
- Orange County/John Wayne, California (SNA): Flights begin Nov. 19
- Spokane, Washington (GEG): Flights begin Nov. 22
- Springfield, Illinois (SPI): Flights begin Nov. 18
- Tulsa (TUL): Flights begin Nov. 18
Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
- Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (MDT): Flights begin Dec. 15
- Peoria, Illinois (PIA): Flights begin Dec. 15
- Sioux Falls, South Dakota (FSD): Flights begin Dec. 15
Palm Springs, California (PSP)
- Des Moines, Iowa (DSM): Flights begin Nov. 18 (seasonal)
- Indianapolis (IND): Flights begin Nov. 18 (seasonal)
- Provo, Utah (PVU): Flights begin Nov. 19 (seasonal)
Austin, Texas (AUS)
- Punta Gorda, Florida (PGD): Flights begin Nov. 18 (seasonal)
- West Palm Beach, Florida (PBI): Flights begin Nov. 19 (seasonal)
Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Florida (VPS)
- Las Vegas (LAS): Flights begin Oct. 7
- Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP): Flights begin Oct. 1
Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP)
- Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Florida (VPS): Flights begin Oct. 1
- Mesa-Phoenix, Arizona (AZA): Flights begin Nov. 24
Orange County/John Wayne, California (SNA)
- Mesa-Phoenix, Arizona (AZA): Flights begin Nov. 19
- Sioux Falls, South Dakota (FSD): Flights begin Nov. 19
Provo, Utah (PVU)
- Houston Hobby (HOU): Flight begin Nov. 18
- Palm Springs, California (PSP): Flights begin Nov. 19
Punta Gorda, Florida (PGD)
- Austin (AUS): Flights begin Nov. 18
- Bentonville/Fayetteville, Arkansas (XNA): Flights begin Nov. 17
Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida (SRQ)
- Cedar Rapids, Iowa (CID): Flights begin Nov. 19
- Tulsa (TUL): Flights begin Dec. 15
Sioux Falls, South Dakota (FSD)
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL): Flights begin Dec. 15
- Orange County/John Wayne, California (SNA): Flights begin Nov. 19
Tulsa (TUL)
- Mesa-Phoenix, Arizona (AZA): Flights begin Nov. 18
- Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida (SRQ): Flights begin Dec. 15
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