Allegiant Air President speaks at Low Cost #Airlines World Americas 2011

At the Low Cost Airlines World Americas conference, Andrew C. Levy, President of the Allegiant Travel Company, spoke about the past, present and future of the Las Vegas based airline, Allegiant Air. Levy described Allegiant’s niche market segment as a focus on the leisure travel customer who wants non-stop travel to and from small cities and popular leisure destinations, such as Orlando, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Levy explained how Allegiant has successfully managed to maintain costs and grow revenues through the unbundling of services and through various forms of ancillary revenue. Some unbundled products offered by Allegiant Air include checked bag fees, call-center use fees, priority boarding fees, and on-board sales.

Moving forward, Levy expressed that Allegiant Air has decided to expand its fleet of MD-80s with the acquisition of six Boeing 757s, which will afford the airline the opportunity to serve markets within a 7-hour range. Allegiant Air plans to place a few 757s in service domestically by late summer 2011 and have announced plans to begin service to and from Hawaii in 2012. On the horizon, there has also been discussion of expanding service into the Caribbean and Mexican markets.

Allegiant Air currently has a nationwide footprint and a balanced geography serving 164 routes based on seasonal demand patterns.