The first plane hasn’t rolled up to the gate yet and Allegiant Air is already responding to demand for the Ohio-to-Savannah/Hilton Head flights the low-fare airline announced last week.
Flights from Cincinnati to the two-market destination of Historic Savannah and Hilton Head Island Resort, originally scheduled to end in August, will now run through Oct. 11, with new promotional fares available.
“Allegiant has been very pleased with the Cincinnati area’s enthusiastic response to our new Hilton Head flights,” said Jude Bricker, Allegiant Travel Company senior vice president of planning. “We’re certain local travelers will appreciate the extension of this already-popular service into the fall.”
The U.S. domestic low-cost carrier based in Las Vegas announced Feb. 24 that it will begin nonstop seasonal service to the Savannah/Hilton Head airport from three Ohio cities:
• Cincinnati, starting May 8
• Akron/Canton, May 21 through Aug. 15
• Columbus, June 4 through Aug. 16.
“We are excited that the demand from the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region to the Savannah/Hilton Head region has exceeded Allegiant’s expectations,” said Candace McGraw, CEO of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. “We know our region values low-cost nonstop travel options and we are proud that CVG provides more flights and destinations than any other airport in the region. We are confident the success of the CVG-Savannah/Hilton Head route will further lead to Allegiant and other carriers adding more destinations in the future.”
Greg Kelly, executive director of the Savannah airport, said he hoped the popularity of the new routes will lead to more route considerations from Allegiant to Savannah.
“We knew the Ohio to Savannah/Hilton Head connection would be well received, but Allegiant’s decision to increase service so soon after the original announcement is evidence that it’s even stronger than we originally thought,” Kelly said. “We hope this is just the beginning of a long and successful relationship with Allegiant.”
Visit Savannah President Joe Marinelli said his organization annually tracks Ohio as one of its top five feeder-market states.
“The fact that locals often observe
so many license plates from Ohio is no accident,” Marinelli said last week. “Not only does Hilton Head Island have a long relationship with folks there, we at Visit Savannah also do a lot of marketing and promotion in that state.”
For their Savannah service, Allegiant gets two separate markets, Marinelli said, noting that Hilton Head is a vacation destination, and Savannah is attractive as a “long weekend getaway destination.”
Owned by publicly traded Allegiant Travel Co. (NASDAQ: ALGT), the airline focuses on low-cost leisure travel, providing customers with low base fares averaging nearly half of the cost of the typical domestic round-trip fare. It’s a business model that has allowed the company to grow from one aircraft and one route just over a decade ago, to serving more than 100 communities nationwide.
ABOUT THE PROMOTIONAL FARE
Special fares as low as $78 one way, including taxes and fees, are available on select flights.
Flight days and times as well as fares can be found at Allegiant.com.