Late Thursday, Allegiant Airlines completed its historic first flight to Amarillo, landing at Rick Husband International Airport carrying passengers from Las Vegas.
Allegiant Airlines, an airline specializing in low-cost, nonstop flights throughout the country, is now bringing three new routes to Amarillo. Las Vegas flights have officially started, with routes to Austin and Phoenix beginning Nov. 18, and costs for one-way flights start at $39.
With the addition of Allegiant, the Amarillo area now has four airlines that service the airport, including United, American and Southwest Airlines.
Michael Conner, director of aviation for Rick Husband International Airport, spoke about the importance of adding this new carrier to the airport.
"This will provide additional options for people who want to go to those cities, especially those that have larger families who are normally driving to those places will be able to fly now due to the lower fares that Allegiant offers, Conner said. "Flying through Allegiant also gives other travel options such as booking hotels and rental cars at their destination since they are a travel company."
Like in most of its cities, Allegiant will offer its routes twice a week to its destinations from Amarillo. According to its website, Allegiant flies out of 117 airports, including seven in Texas.
"We are always looking for other airlines to serve additional cities," Conner said. "This will give the city more travel options that we have been looking at for a long time. I think it's very significant. It's not only significant for Amarillo, but it's significant for the airline as well."
"I think that this is one of the largest and most significant startups from an airline at a single airport of this size in my long career. It really says something about the trust that Allegiant has in the Amarillo community."
Allegiant Managing Director of Planning Kristen Schilling-Gonzales spoke about the new partnership and the potential for more service in the region.
"We are so excited to be here today; we are allowing passengers to go from their hometown with lower-cost options to go on vacation, Schilling-Gonzales said. "We enable our customers to only pay for what they use. With our airline, people can fly for much cheaper than other airlines out there."
Schilling-Gonzales explained how customers can specifically tailor every aspect of their flight and vacation to control their costs and pay for what they need when booking with Allegiant.
For example, with Allegiant, customers can carry on a small personal bag with smaller dimensions than the typical carry-on bag for free. Still, if passengers want to bring on more oversized items or baggage, they pay an upcharge. The same method of pricing is used for booking specific seats in advance and other services.
With this initial offering of services in the region, Schilling-Gonzales feels that there is quite an opportunity for expanded coverage of the area.
"There is such a large market out here in the Texas Panhandle, that there is an opportunity to grow additional destinations in the future," she said. "We have seen Amarillo as an opportunity for a while. We have been working closely with the city and the airport to help bring our service to Amarillo while keeping our costs low."
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