Allegiant Wants To Expand

Story on Allegiant, part below. Do we ever have representatives from the airport admin or city attend meetings like these?

http://www.inbusinesslasvegas.com/2006/02/24/feature1.html


Allegiant Air, the Las Vegas-based air carrier that specializes in packaging vacations to local resorts from small-town USA, will nearly double in size in the next two to three years with plans to serve 70 cities. President and Chief Executive Maurice Gallagher made the projection this week at the Airport Revenue News' second-annual airport revenue conference at Caesars Palace, where he was a guest speaker.

The conference brings together airport managers and a variety of products and vendors designed to generate revenue for airports and provide diversions for people spending time between flights. If Gallagher's projections are on the mark, Allegiant would surpass Southwest Airlines in the number of nonstop destinations served and challenge US Airways for offering service to the most destinations from McCarran International Airport. US Airways, which formerly operated in Las Vegas as America West Airlines, and its regional express affiliate currently offer flights to 67 destinations, the most by any carrier.

But the number of cities directly served from Las Vegas is about the last similarity between Allegiant and its rivals. Gallagher said Allegiant's motto, in fact, is "We don't do business," a reference to the airline's focus on serving the leisure market. Allegiant currently has flights to 37 cities with its fleet of 20 MD-80 series jet aircraft. Because the airline focuses its attention on small communities and not big cities, the market is virtually wide open and Allegiant has very little competition.

Gallagher figures there are about 130 small cities with airports capable of serving Allegiant's jets. "These small cities have a total population of 100-plus million people hungry for air service, so that's quite an opportunity," he said. He said that while Allegiant isn't a household name nationwide, "our name is recognized by the people in Sioux Falls" and other cities where the airline is the only scheduled air service they have