Orlando Sanford is Allegiant’s leading airport, with 72 routes. While eight of the carrier’s top-10 airports have grown since 2019, especially Asheville and Knoxville, Sanford and Fort Lauderdale haven’t. Allegiant is to welcome Key West from Sanford this June, which will be one of the shortest routes in its network.
Allegiant is known for thin routes, secondary airports, serving small cities, low frequencies, little direct competition, high ancillaries, building its own resort, minimal flying on off-peak days, and older aircraft.
Allegiant doubled in size between 2014 and 2019, with the carrier recording 17.8 million seats in full-year 2019, data from OAG confirms. Due to its schedule not yet being fully available at the end of the year, its January to October capacity so far totals 17.1 million, but that will increase further.
Orlando Sanford is top for Allegiant
Orlando Sanford is Allegiant’s top airport in the first 10 months of 2021, with the Florida airport retaining its number-one position that it has held since overtaking Las Vegas in 2016. However, in comparison to the same period in 2019, its Sanford seat capacity has reduced by 7%, one of only two airports in its top-10 list to have declined. The other is Fort Lauderdale (-4%).
Allegiant has two routes starting from Sanford. A 292-mile link with Key West begins on June 4th and will be twice-weekly, while Rapid City will be short-lived (just four flights) for the biking event. However, Allegiant has cut Albuquerque, Ogdensburg, and San Juan from Sanford.
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Allegiant has 72 Sanford routes
Allegiant has 72 routes scheduled from Sanford between January to October, a net decline of one over the same period in 2019. Its top-10 route list comprises:
- Allentown
- Asheville
- Knoxville
- Cincinnati
- Grand Rapids
- Harrisburg
- Concord
- Lexington
- Indianapolis
- Flint
28 states are served, with Pennsylvania, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio, and New York core. Four Pennsylvania airports linked to Sanford, including two in its top-10 route list (Allentown and Harrisburg) along with Pittsburgh and State College. At the other extreme are Kansas, Louisville, Florida. Mississippi, and Nebraska.
Big changes among Allegiant’s top-10 airports
Eight of Allegiant’s top-10 airports have more seat capacity in the first 10 months of 2021 than the same period in 2019:
- Asheville is up by 30%
- Knoxville: 18%
- Cincinnati: 17%
- Destin Fort Walton: 14%
- Punta Gorda: 10%
- Phoenix-Mesa: 4%
- Tampa St Pete: 1%
- Las Vegas: 1%
- Fort Lauderdale: -4%
- Orlando Sanford: -7%
Asheville capacity is up by 30%
Asheville is a key airport for accessing the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Allegiant has 15 routes from the airport, with Austin, Boston, Houston Hobby, Chicago Midway, and West Palm Beach all added since late 2019. Additionally, Las Vegas recently launched, and a twice-weekly Destin service starts on May 27th.
Across Allegiant’s whole network, Asheville to Fort Lauderdale is the top route by seat capacity, while Asheville-Sanford ranks sixth.
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