Allegiant must be looking forward to June and what exists beyond it. The ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) plans to have 15% more seats than it did in pre-pandemic June 2019. The ULCC's network has grown by 99 routes and eight airports, and it now has more capacity at 71 of its airports than it did before COVID.

Allegiant A320
The introduction of Orange County to Sioux Falls, beginning on November 19th, comes as Allegiant ends Los Angeles to the South Dakota airport. Allegiant has served Los Angeles-Sioux Falls since 2009, a route that ended in August 2018 but returned from June to August 2021. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

Allegiant has almost 2.14 million round-trip seats this June, as shown in the following figure, up from 1.86 million in the same month in 2019. This means it'll have more capacity this June than in any other thus far, although this says nothing of fares, loads, or any other measure of performance. It comes after recently saying it'll hire 184 extra pilots in the coming months.

Perhaps even more eye-opening is how Allegiant's June supply is up by 41% compared with the current month. While things absolutely may change, it does appear to support the ULCC's Chairman and CEO, Maurice Gallagher, who earlier this year said that:

“I could not be more bullish on our outlook... Going forward, our full-year, 2021 capacity should exceed 2019 capacity levels."

Although it is still 'planned' capacity, June is close enough that there will probably be relatively few changes. Source: OAG Schedules Analyzer

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What has changed?

Allegiant has grown strongly. In June 2019, it had 411 routes, which have now increased to 510. Moreover, it'll serve some 128 airports, up from 120. Some 12 airports have joined its map in this period, including Boston, Chicago Midway, Houston Hobby, and West Palm Beach. Meanwhile, four airports have been cut, notably Anchorage and Milwaukee.

The ULCC has exceeded its pre-pandemic June capacity at a whopping 71 airports. Among these are Nashville, Destin Fort Walton Beach, Sarasota, San Diego, and Grand Rapids. Sarasota was found to be the US' fifth-fastest-growing airport this summer out of 455 airports examined.

Moreover, Allegiant has doubled its presence at five airports: Austin; Boise; Bozeman; San Diego; and Santa Maria. Austin has been a standout airport for growth in recent years. The Airbus-operating carrier has 12 routes from the Texas airport in June.

Allegiant flew more in the second quarter of 2021 than it did in the same quarter of 2019. Photo: Getty Images.

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Orlando Sanford is #1 in June

Sanford will be Allegiant's leading airport by total seat capacity, with the top-10 shown below. Its presence at the airport has grown marginally (+2%) and it has 69 routes. Six routes have a once-daily frequency or more: Asheville; Allentown; Knoxville; Cincinnati; Grand Rapids; and Harrisburg.

  1. Orlando Sanford
  2. Tampa St Pete
  3. Las Vegas
  4. Phoenix-Mesa
  5. Punta Gorda
  6. Destin Fort Walton Beach
  7. Cincinnati
  8. Fort Lauderdale
  9. Los Angeles
  10. Asheville

Asheville, in North Carolina, has grown decently for Allegiant, up as it is by +19%, with 15 routes. Allegiant is one of four airlines to serve the airport, and in June it has just under half of its capacity (48%). Asheville also plays an important role in the ULCC's thickest routes.

Of Allegiant's top-10 airports, Destin has grown the most by both added seats and on a percentage basis. Photo: Alec Wilson via Wikimedia.

Allegiant's top-10 routes in June

Asheville to Sanford is Allegiant's thickest route in June, with up to three daily departures, almost fully by the A320. It has beaten Asheville-Fort Lauderdale, which was first two years ago but has slipped to fifth.

  1. Asheville-Orlando Sanford
  2. Cincinnati-Destin Fort Walton Beach
  3. Phoenix Mesa-Provo
  4. Allentown-Orlando Sanford
  5. Asheville-Fort Lauderdale
  6. Belleville-Destin Fort Walton Beach
  7. Cincinnati-Fort Lauderdale
  8. Cincinnati-Tampa St Pete
  9. Knoxville-Orlando Sanford
  10. Concord-Fort Lauderdale
Allegiant Air aircraft coming in for a landing.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

Four routes have fallen out of the top-10: Asheville-St Pete; Bellingham-Las Vegas; Fresno-Las Vegas; and Las Vegas-Stockton. Despite Sin City growing for Allegiant, although not by enough to stop it from becoming the ULCC's third-largest airport, down from second. But for how long?

Will you be flying Allegiant this year? Let us know in the comments!