Summary
- Allegiant will begin flights to Orlando International from Allentown, Asheville, and Knoxville.
- The airline previously served Allentown and Asheville from the airport in 2010/2011.
- Could Allegiant’s return to Orlando’s primary airport be to postpone route-level entry by Breeze or Avelo?
In an intriguing move, Allegiant has added flights to Orlando International. It would complement its considerable operation at Sanford, which Cirium shows is the carrier’s top airport, network-wide, for seats on the market this winter.
Allegiant adds Orlando International
Three routes will begin in May, using aircraft based within the three cities. When writing, only Knoxville is served, with Frontier having the honors. As that carrier’s flights usually are not yet available beyond April, it’s unclear if it’s going to exist when Allegiant takes off in May.
Evaluation of US DOT T-100 data shows that Allentown has had multiple operators. It was last served by Frontier (2012-2013), following the top of AirTran (2009-2012). Amongst other carriers, Allegiant operated, too; see below. Meanwhile, Spirit was the last carrier to serve Asheville (2018-2020), although others did before, including AirTran (2009-2012).
- Allentown: twice-weekly, starting May sixteenth
- Asheville: twice to 4 weekly, May third
- Knoxville: twice-weekly, May seventeenth
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy Flying
Last served in 2011
Allegiant first flew from Orlando International in February 2010 and based five MD-80s on the airport. The experiment didn’t go well: it pulled out the next January.
Speaking on the time, Andrew Levy, Allegiant Travel Company President and now Avelo CEO, said,
“Our customers prefer the convenience and ease of Sanford… the substantially lower airport operating costs coupled with the more efficient operating environment at Sanford made… [consolidating there]… the best decision for Allegiant.”
It provided an intriguing rebuttal of what he commented to CAPA ahead of the primary flight from International:
That is supported by T-100 data, which shows it carried 555,000 roundtrip passengers on a 10-strong route network. With about 622,000 seats on the market, it achieved a mean seat load factor of approx 89%.
Photo: Philip Pilosian | Shutterstock
It had no problem filling seats to/from the airport, attesting to its popularity. Nevertheless, while we have no idea the common fares it achieved for that SLF, they were clearly insufficiently low given the high costs mentioned above. Margins will need to have been poor, so it is just not surprising that it pulled out. Remember, it’s about SLF is achieved. It is only one a part of the performance puzzle.
So why return?
It raises the plain query of what has modified to warrant a second attempt at International, albeit a few years later. Serving two airports in the identical city increases costs and complexity.
It would somewhat cannibalize its existing Sanford operation. Nevertheless, booking data shows that indirect traffic between Internationa and the three cities is affordable. With demand stimulation, it’s going to grow its share of the city-level markets, making entry by others less likely.
Photo: Allegiant
Leaving aside fees, charges, incentives, latest growth opportunities, and more, could Allegiant’s return be to dissuade fast-growing Breeze or Avelo from those routes or further penetration into ‘Allegiant markets’?
In any case, using Cirium to look at its 440+ winter routes shows that Sanford-Knoxville is its primary route by seats on the market, Sanford-Allentown is fourth, and Sanford-Asheville is fifth. Is it an try to effectively protect them? Nonetheless, it could be a relatively extreme move.
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Nine other routes are coming
While Orlando International is undoubtedly probably the most interesting, nine other routes have been announced. Seven are brand-new: they’ve not been served by any carrier before.
- Austin-Eugene: twice-weekly, starting May thirty first;
- Appleton-Newark: twice-weekly, May seventeenth;
- Billings-Los Angeles: twice-weekly, May sixteenth;
- Bismarck-Tampa St Pete: twice-weekly, May fifteenth;
- Chattanooga-Las Vegas: twice-weekly, May sixteenth;
- Rapid City-Orlando Sanford: twice-weekly, May fifteenth;
- Rockford-Nashville: twice-weekly, May sixteenth;
- Traverse City-Fort Lauderdale: twice-weekly, May seventeenth;
- Washington Dulles-Punta Gorda: twice-weekly, May sixteenth;
What do you make of all of it? Tell us within the comments section.