Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel Co. is one step closer to offering flights to Hawaii after getting permission from the Federal Aviation Administration today to begin operating Boeing 757-200 planes on mainland routes.
The airline has already announced plans to use the larger aircraft on its routes between Las Vegas and McAllen, Texas, and Rockford, Ill., in addition to the MD-80 aircraft currently used.
Allegiant plans to use the 757s to fly from some of the airline’s West Coast cities to Hawaii beginning next summer, but still has to get an additional certification and Flag Carrier status from the FAA to operate those flights, the company said in a statement.
"We look forward to serving the Hawaiian market with the same business model that has made Allegiant so successful on the mainland — linking travelers in small cities to world-class leisure destinations," company President Andrew Levy said in the statement.
Allegiant currently operates 51 of the MD-80 planes and recently purchased four 757s, but three of them are leased to two European carriers until the middle of next year. It plans to purchase two more 757s by the end of this year.
The 757s are narrow-body, twin-engine planes that will hold 217 passengers in a single-class cabin with a three-by-three seat configuration.