< Reveal sidebar

Allegiant Air Announces New Base in Provo Utah

Allegiant’s “Winter The Dolphin” livery departing for a flight (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)

On Tuesday, ultra-low-cost carrier Allegiant Air announced plans to open a new four-aircraft base at Provo Municipal Airport (PVU) in Utah County, Utah. Possible through an investment of $95 million, the airline is set to begin base operations on November 16th later this year, and is expected to create upwards of 157 high-wage jobs for the community. 

The $95 million investment will go towards the necessary equipment, infrastructure, employees and supplies that will be needed to establish its base operations.

The base announcement comes at a time of rapid expansion and growth for the Las Vegas-based airline. Earlier this year, the carrier announced an order of 50 Boeing 737 aircraft comprising a mix of 737-7 and 737-8-200 models—with the option for a further 50 aircraft. 

Allegiant Air, a subsidiary of Allegiant Travel Co., focuses on linking travelers in small to medium-sized cities to leisure destinations, thus making Provo the perfect fit. 

“Unlike most airlines which operate on a hub-and-spoke system, we fly an ‘out and back’ network where crews originate at a base, do their day of flying and return to base every night. This is also a benefit for our crew members, who get to sleep in their own beds at night, see their families and truly live in their base communities,” according to Allegiant leaders.

Allegiant is no stranger to the Utah County area. Beginning operations at Provo in 2013, the carrier remains the only commercial airline operating out of the airport, currently offering eight non-stop routes – Austin and Houston, Texas; St. Pete-Clearwater, Florida; Phoenix and Mesa, Arizona; and Palm Springs, Los Angeles and Orange County, California. Since operations began, Allegiant has flown more than 700,000 passengers through Provo.

“Allegiant Air has found a following with their unique brand of travel focused on low-cost, nonstop flights to popular destinations without the hassle of layovers and connections,” said Brian Torgersen, interim Provo Airport manager. “We are pleased to launch a new era of travel at the Provo Airport, with Allegiant’s base operations expansion being key to our future success.”

Allegiant’s announcement comes just weeks before Provo is set to open its doors to its newest terminal. Breaking ground in November of 2019, the new terminal features four gates with the possibility to expand to 10 gates in the future. At a price tag of $55 million, the goal of the additional 70,000 sq ft of new terminal space is to attract some explosive growth in commercial air service. 

City officials, pleased by Tuesday’s announcement, as they say Provo Airport has moved up to being the state’s second busiest airport as it grows.

“We’re delighted to grow alongside Provo, a market with phenomenal growth and convenient access to some of Utah’s most treasured destinations,” said Keith Hansen, Allegiant’s vice president of government affairs. “Allegiant understands the value of Provo Airport. Building on the success of eight existing routes at PVU, our investment means having locally-based aircraft and crews, opening the door for future new destination opportunities for residents.”

Chase Hagl

Author

  • Chase Hagl

    Chase Hagl grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho. His love and passion for Aviation landed him in Orem, Utah where he obtained a B.S. in Aviation Management with a minor in Business Management from Utah Valley University. Chase currently works as a flight attendant in Charleston, SC and is also the primary Inflight ASAP ERC representative for startup airline, Breeze Airways. His experience in the aviation industry spans back four years, working in areas including agriculture application, customer service, maintenance, and flight ops. In his free time, Chase enjoys road biking, astronomy, and flying.

    View all posts

Subscribe to AirlineGeeks' Daily Check-In

Receive a daily dose of the airline industry's top stories along with market insights right in your inbox.

Related Stories

How Do Low-Cost Airlines Make Tickets So Cheap?

The likes of Ryanair, easyJet, and Southwest are some of the most successful airlines in history, with the former consistently…

A Look at the Qatar Airways Stopover Program

Given that the majority of passengers traveling on the big Middle Eastern airlines are connecting, these airlines offer stopover packages…

The Large Air Carrier That Few Know Exists

The concept of an “airline” is a familiar one: a single company operates specific aircraft to specific places, either regularly…