Allegiant adds Louisville as part of 17-route expansion

Allegiant Air continues to fill out its route map.

The leisure carrier will begin flying from Louisville, Ky., and will open a new base city at Florida’s Destin–Fort Walton Beach Airport. Allegiant revealed those plans as part of a 17-route expansion announced Tuesday.

Allegiant’s Louisville service will launch May 19, when the company begins twice-weekly nonstop service to Fort Lauderdale. That route will be the first of six routes it will begin flying from Louisville in May. The other routes – all also twice weekly – will be to Destin, Fla.; Orlando/Sanford; Punta Gorda, Fla.; St. Petersburg, Fla.; and Savannah, Ga.

Allegiant began flying to Destin in May, but now will add 11 routes as it develops the Gulf Coast destination into one of its focus cities. All of the new routes will be twice-weekly seasonal routes to destinations across the Northeast, Midwest and Texas.

“Our presence in Florida continues to grow as we announce our largest expansion into a Florida destination in the company’s history,” Jude Bricker, Allegiant’s chief operating officer, says in a statement. “A new base in Destin/Fort Walton Beach will allow us to better serve travelers, including those in Louisville, Kentucky, who we welcome today as a brand new city in our network.”

Beyond its growth in Destin and expansion to Louisville, Allegiant announced one other new nonstop route. That route will begin May 19, when the company starts a twice-weekly schedule between Austin and Indianapolis.

Also notable in Tuesday’s announcement is Allegiant’s growing presence at big airports in the Northeast. Allegiant will add Destin service from such airports in the region, launching service to the Florida destination from Newark Liberty near New York City; Baltimore/Washington International and Pittsburgh.

Allegiant is one of the USA’s three big “ultra low-cost carriers” that – along with Frontier and Spirit – offer bargain base fares but charge extra for everything from carry-on bags to seat assignments.

The company's business model has historically been built around offering nonstop flights from small and medium-sized markets to destinations that appeal to leisure fliers. It still serves numerous small markets like Casper, Wyo., and Plattsburgh, N.Y, but Allegiant has increasingly been moving into bigger markets such as Newark, Baltimore, Austin, Cincinnati and New Orleans.

The company does not sell connecting itineraries, selling nonstop flights to more than a dozen focus cities located mostly in leisure destinations.

17 new routes announced by Allegiant Air on Today:

Destin–Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

Austin: Service begins May 3 (seasonal)

Baltimore/Washington: Service begins May 31 (seasonal)

Cleveland: Service begins May 12 (seasonal)

Columbus, Ohio: Service begins May 25 (seasonal)

Indianapolis: Service begins May 26 (seasonal)

Louisville: Service begins May 24 (seasonal)

Kansas City: Service begins May 4 (seasonal)

Newark, N.J.: Service begins June 2 (seasonal)

Peoria, Ill.: Service begins May 24 (seasonal)

Pittsburgh: Service begins May 31 (seasonal)

Springfield, Mo.: Service begins May 25 (seasonal)

Louisville

Destin, Fla.: Service begins May 24

Fort Lauderdale: Service begins May 19

Orlando/Sanford: Service begins May 24

Punta Gorda, Fla.: Service begins May 25

St. Petersburg, Fla.: Service begins May 24

Savannah, Ga.: Service begins May 26 (seasonal)

Austin

Indianapolis: Service begins May 19

(Ben Mutzabaugh - Today In The Sky / USA Today)