Allegiant Air will fly from Newport News to Orlando

Posted to: Business Newport News
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By Christopher Dinsmore
The Virginian-Pilot
© August 19, 2011

NEWPORT NEWS

Allegiant Air announced Thursday that it will fly between Newport News and Orlando, Fla., four days a week, beginning in November.

The new service is small solace to Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport, which will be losing AirTran Airways service in March and see its service from Frontier Airlines cut back.

Frontier, which flies four days a week to Denver, will stop that service at the end of the summer and resume it next year on a seasonal basis. AirTran offers nine daily nonstop flights to Atlanta, Boston, Orlando and New York's LaGuardia Airport.

AirTran cited the economy, fuel costs and its performance at the airport for its decision. It also recently was acquired by Southwest Airlines, which flies from airports in Norfolk and Richmond.

Known for inexpensive flights between small cities and major leisure destinations, Allegiant Air is a unit of Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel Co.

Allegiant is initially offering flights between Newport News and the Florida vacation destination at $64.99 one-way, not including airport and other fees. It will fly in and out of Orlando Sanford International Airport.

Allegiant will offer one flight a day on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The flights will depart Orlando at 1 p.m. and arrive in Newport News at 2:50 p.m., leaving at 3:30 p.m. for a 5:30 p.m. return to Orlando.

"We're pleased to bring an affordable and convenient travel option to Newport News," Andrew C. Levy, Allegiant Travel's president, said in a news release. "We are confident the Newport News-Williamsburg community and all of Southeastern Virginia will appreciate flying nonstop to Orlando and take advantage of the great deals we offer on hotels, car rentals and theme park tickets."

Ken Spirito, executive director of the Newport News airport, said it has been working to bring Allegiant there for more than a year.

"Not only will Allegiant Air's low fares and great destinations be an asset to our community, we also see this as a way to expand our destination as well," Spirito said in the release issued by Allegiant.

Christopher Dinsmore,(757) 446-2271, chris.dinsmore@pilotonline.com

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Ken Spirito, executive

Submitted by jordanhawk on Mon, 01/09/2012 at 1:45 pm.

Ken Spirito, executive director of the Newport News airport, said it has been working to bring Allegiant there for more than a year. Sale Thesis

Alliance Travel

Submitted by WedHouse on Tue, 11/08/2011 at 1:14 pm.

This is a great addition to an already unique service offered by the Newport News/Williamsberg terminal. I look forward to benifiting from the Orlando leg within the next few weeks. Thanks for increasing your nonstop flight destinations.

V/r,

Wed...

First glance

Submitted by truthseeker on Fri, 08/19/2011 at 10:35 am.

Saw the pictures, at first thought it was Allegheny Air, (Formerly known as "Agony" Airlines".

Whats too bad is that this region...

Submitted by mowns on Thu, 08/18/2011 at 5:34 pm.

could never get it's act together and have one REALLY nice, large airport to handle it all. We will always be third rate divided.

Where Else?

Submitted by Rakkasan on Thu, 08/18/2011 at 4:09 pm.

The article mentioned flights to Orlando, but what about Atlanta, Boston, or New York?

Nor just Orlando

Submitted by glennf1 on Thu, 08/18/2011 at 3:10 pm.

Orlando is a big East Coast hub for Allegiant so you can then go to the Midwest, East Coast, and Texas. It's too bad they can't replace the direct NY flights we are loosing with AirTran.

Orlando is not a hub for

Submitted by cowpower on Fri, 08/19/2011 at 10:04 am.

Orlando is not a hub for Allegiant, but it is a major destination. You can tell just from looking at their site. If you select "from PHF", the only "to cities" you get are Orlando Sanford and Daytona Sanford -- that's the same airport. There are no other connecting cities. You would have to buy two sets of separate tickets to fly from Orlando to anywhere else and they likely would not be times to meet your arriving flight from PHF. Allegiant is a successful airline for vacationers who want to go to Orlando and they don't pretend to be anything else. I wish them well.