Allegiant Airline to provide Florida flights out of Niagara Falls
By Michele Deluca Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Tue Sep 20, 2011, 11:24 PM EDT
NIAGARA FALLS — A new airline announced it will be flying out of the Niagara Falls International Airport and officials lauded the news Tuesday as evidence of success of the multi-million dollar upgrades to the facility.
Allegiant Travel Company held a press conference at the airport to give the details on low-cost, nonstop flights from Niagara Falls to Tampa Bay/Clearwater.
“We’re excited to be in this market,” said Kristine Shattuck-Cooper, public relations manager for Allegiant, which is based in Las Vegas. “”We look forward to a sustainable, long-term relationship with the airport and the community.”
Allegiant, which markets itself as a full-service travel company, is the first new airline to land at the airport after the announcement in January that one of three airlines, Vision Airlines, was pulling out of the location and reorganizing. Allegiant has a much stronger foothold in the industry and was only one of two airlines that made money last year — the other was Southwest Airlines — airline officials said.
“Allegiant is well established. It’s been in the business for several years,” said William Vanecek, director of aviation for the NFTA.
Allegiant is based in Las Vegas but Shattuck-Cooper said it would probably be a while, if ever, before the airline began providing flights to Las Vegas. “We’ll probably look at (adding) another Florida market first,” Shattuck-Cooper said, noting “We never say never.”
The flights will take place twice a week, on Mondays and Tuesdays. An introductory ticket price will be offered at $79, she said.
During the press conference, state Department of Transportation figures were released which showed the airport has had a $158 million impact on the local community. The statistics were gathered two years ago, so the actual impact is expected to be much higher, according to Kim Minkel, executive director of the NFTA.
Local officials at the press conference lauded the arrival of the new carrier.
“This is another step in the right direction,” said Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster. “The more carriers we have, the easier it is to get the next one.” The mayor noted that the next step would be to begin packaging trips for those who want to come to the region for activities including sporting events, festivals such as the upcoming Holiday Market, and other tourist activities.
“It just shows more growth here,” said Senator George Maziarz, who noted the five new hotels on Niagara Falls Boulevard and new development around the Fashion Outlets Niagara Falls as being directly related to the renovation of the airport. In addition, Maziarz pointed to statistics showing 1,700 jobs were created as a direct result of the opening of the new $31.5 million passenger terminal in August of 2009 by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.
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