Charlotte-area fliers are getting a new route to Florida, just in time for summer
Charlotte-area fliers will have a new low-cost option to Florida this summer.
Allegiant Air is scheduled to begin flying from Concord to Sarasota on May 28, with one-way introductory fares as low as $49.
The new route is part of a major expansion announced Tuesday by the Las Vegas-based airlines that includes 34 new nonstop routes nationwide. A new route from Asheville to Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Fla., begins on May 27.
The Concord-to-Sarasota route will operate twice a week, the airlines announced.
Allegiant has operated from Concord-Padgett Regional Airport since 2013. The airline has seven nonstop routes from the airport.
In April 2020, Allegiant Travel Company, which operates Allegiant Air, put its planned $50 million Concord airport base on hold after the coronavirus pandemic sent the airline industry into a tailspin, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
The base is expected to create at least 66 jobs and accommodate two Airbus aircraft. The base was scheduled to open in October 2020.
“At this time, we have not yet identified a new date,” spokeswoman Hilarie Grey told the Observer on Wednesday.
Allegiant cut its flights by 80% to 90% last April and May, Grey previously told the Observer, including at Concord, where the carrier hadn’t operated a flight since March 22.
“We’re incredibly excited to grow again at Concord-Padgett Regional Airport with this new route,” Drew Wells, Allegiant vice president of planning and revenue, said in a post on the airport website Tuesday.
“We are proud of our growing partnership with Allegiant and grateful for their continued investment in our community,” airport Aviation Director Dirk Vanderleest said in the post.
Airport officials are working with Allegiant to add even more “low-cost, nonstop destinations in the future,” Vanderleest said.
To get the low introductory fares for the new Concord and Asheville flights, you have to hurry: Tickets must be purchased by the end of Wednesday, Feb. 10, for travel by Aug. 16, according on the airlines.
Allegiant did not release how much the fares will cost after Wednesday.
In another airline industry development that could affect Charlotte fliers, the Valdosta (Ga.) City Council applied for a federal grant to start two round trips a day with the American Airlines hub in Charlotte, the Valdosta Daily Times reported. Flights would begin in 2022 if the Federal Aviation Administration approves Valdosta’s request.
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 11:15 AM with the headline "Charlotte-area fliers are getting a new route to Florida, just in time for summer."