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 put off route-level entry by Breeze or Avelo?
In an intriguing move, Allegiant has added flights to Orlando International. It will supplement its considerable operation at Sanford, which Cirium shows is the carrier’s top airport, network-wide, for seats for sale this winter.
Allegiant adds Orlando International
Three routes will begin in May, using aircraft based in the three cities. When writing, only Knoxville is served, with Frontier having the honors. As that carrier’s flights are not yet available beyond April, it is unclear if it will exist when Allegiant takes off in May.
Analysis of US DOT T-100 data shows that Allentown has had multiple operators. It was last served by Frontier (2012-2013), following the end of AirTran (2009-2012). Among 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 16th
- Asheville: twice to four weekly, May 3rd
- Knoxville: twice-weekly, May 17th
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Last served in 2011
Allegiant first flew from Orlando International in February 2010 and based five MD-80s at the airport. The experiment did not go well: it pulled out the following January.
Speaking at the time, Andrew Levy, Allegiant Travel Company President and now Avelo CEO, said,
“Our customers prefer the convenience and simplicity of Sanford… the substantially lower airport operating costs coupled with the more efficient operating environment at Sanford made… [consolidating there]… the right decision for Allegiant.”
It provided an intriguing rebuttal of what he commented to CAPA ahead of the first flight from International: “Bookings have been well ahead of our expectations.”
This 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 for sale, it achieved an average seat load factor of approx 89%.
Photo: Philip Pilosian | Shutterstock
It had no problem filling seats to/from the airport, attesting to its popularity. However, while we do not know the average fares it achieved for that SLF, they were clearly insufficiently low given the high costs mentioned above. Margins must have been poor, so it is not surprising that it pulled out. Remember, it is about how SLF is achieved. It is just one part of the performance puzzle.
So why return?
It raises the obvious question of what has changed to warrant a second attempt at International, albeit many years later. Serving two airports in the same city increases costs and complexity.
It will somewhat cannibalize its existing Sanford operation. However, booking data shows that indirect traffic between Internationa and the three cities is reasonable. With demand stimulation, it will grow its share of the city-level markets, making entry by others less likely.
Photo: Allegiant
Leaving aside fees, charges, incentives, new 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’?
After all, using Cirium to examine its 440+ winter routes shows that Sanford-Knoxville is its number one route by seats for sale, Sanford-Allentown is fourth, and Sanford-Asheville is fifth. Is it an attempt to effectively protect them? Then again, it might be a rather extreme move.
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Nine other routes are coming
While Orlando International is undoubtedly the most interesting, nine other routes have been announced. Seven are brand-new: they have not been served by any carrier before.
- Austin-Eugene: twice-weekly, starting May 31st; never served
- Appleton-Newark: twice-weekly, May 17th; never served
- Billings-Los Angeles: twice-weekly, May 16th; Allegiant 2009-2021
- Bismarck-Tampa St Pete: twice-weekly, May 15th; never served
- Chattanooga-Las Vegas: twice-weekly, May 16th; never served
- Rapid City-Orlando Sanford: twice-weekly, May 15th; a few Allegiant flights in August 2021
- Rockford-Nashville: twice-weekly, May 16th; never served
- Traverse City-Fort Lauderdale: twice-weekly, May 17th; never served
- Washington Dulles-Punta Gorda: twice-weekly, May 16th; never served
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments section.
Source: Allegiant’s website, Google Flights, Cirium, OAG, CAPA, booking data, US DOT T-100