Allegiant Air’s growth spurt has only accelerated post-COVID, with Q4 capacity up 112% over the same period in 2019.
Speaking at Routes World 2022, president and CEO John Redmond said that with a total of 30 leisure destination cities and 100 origination cities, there’s still plenty of room left for the US carrier’s point-to-point network to expand further. “We have 1,400 domestic route opportunities and even more on the international side,” he told delegates.
The Las Vegas-based ULCC has 50 Boeing 737 MAX on order plus 50 options. The ULCC expects to begin bringing the new-generation aircraft into service in August 2023. Redmond said the carrier continues to be opportunistic in acquiring used aircraft to support growth.
There are no plans to abandon its strategy of serving primary airports higher-cost airports, outside a few exceptions like Los Angeles (LAX).
Redmond is bullish on the airline’s new alliance with Mexico’s Viva Aerobus. “They do the same thing we do just on the other side of the border,” he said.
The alliance will allow Allegiant to sell seats to Mexican vacation destinations like Cancun (CUN), Los Cabos (SJD), and Puerto Vallarta (PVR) at low risk. Likewise, the alliance will enable Viva Aerobus to tap into US routes, particularly from underserved Mexican markets to where Allegiant has a significant presence, such as Las Vegas (LAS) and points in Florida.
Allegiant is injecting a $50 million investment into Viva Aerobus and will take a seat on the board. The alliance is targeted for a January 2023 debut, providing it attains US Transportation Department approval. Mexico’s Federal Economic Competition Commission unconditionally approved the alliance on Oct. 17.
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