Allegiant Air has announced plans to expand service out of Springfield-Branson National Airport. The company says that beginning Oct. 31; nonstop jet service will begin between here and southwest Florida. KSMU’s Scott Harvey has details.
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The new flights will operate twice weekly to and from Punta Gorda Airport (PGD), about a 30 minute drive from Ft. Meyers, on a seasonal basis through April 2014.
Springfield is one of eight new routes announced Tuesday by Allegiant that will fly nonstop to the Florida destination.
“Eight years ago, when Allegiant started flying from Springfield, in June of that year they had 3,600 passengers. In June of this year, they had more than 20,000.”
Kent Boyd is a spokesperson for the Springfield-Branson National Airport. He says Allegiant is now the second largest airline in this market. They are also the first to take advantage of the airport’s new advertisement incentive. Valued at $25,000, the deal is incumbent upon an airline adding a new route, and must be spent within one year.
“Having those advertising dollars is nice, but it’s kind of like the icing on the cake from an airline perspective. From a bottom line perspective, really all any airline cares about is whether they think there is money to be made in the market, and their analysis of the Springfield market flying to Ft. Meyers shows that there is money to be made,” Boyd said.
In a news release, Allegiant President Andrew C. Levy said, “We are confident residents of the Springfield-Branson area will appreciate our affordable, nonstop service to popular Southwest Florida destinations, as well as take advantage of the value of booking hotel rooms, car rentals and attractions through us."
The airline says they’ll introduce the new service with fares as low as $90 one way.