Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air will establish a new operations base in Oakland, Calif., and begin offering flights to the Bay area in late April.
The company announced today that it would have flights between Oakland and seven cities in Montana, Idaho and Oregon, committing two of its 166-seat MD-80 twin-engine jets to the operation.
“The San Francisco Bay area is a wonderful addition to our vacation destination offerings,” Allegiant President Andrew Levy said in a release announcing the new service. “Oakland International Airport provides our customers convenient access to all the Bay area has to offer. We are happy to partner with an airport that operates in a low-cost, efficient manner which allows us to pass the savings on to our customer.”
The Bay area is Allegiant’s eighth base of operations, with major tourism emphases in Las Vegas, Mesa, Ariz., Orlando, Fla., Tampa Bay and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. It has smaller bases in Los Angeles and Bellingham, Wash.
From Oakland, Allegiant will offer flights to and from Billings, Mont., and Medford and Redmond, Ore., beginning April 26.
It will begin flights to and from Bozeman, Kalispell and Missoula, Mont., and Idaho Falls, Idaho, beginning April 27.
The airline already offers flights from Oakland to and from Mesa, Bellingham and Eugene, Ore.
The new base will create 60 jobs for pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and airport service personnel