VEGAS INC archives
Allegiant Air will fly a route company officials previously said they’d avoid, between Las Vegas and Mesa, Ariz.
The Las Vegas-based airline, a subsidiary of Allegiant Travel Co., will begin service between McCarran International Airport and Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport on Nov. 17 and fly six nonstop round trips a week. The airport was the former home of Williams AFB.
The airline will use 150-passenger twin-engine MD-80 jets on the route.
Mondays, flights will leave Mesa at 1:25 p.m., arriving at McCarran at 1:35, while return flights will leave Las Vegas at 2:15 p.m., arriving in Mesa at 4:25 p.m. Thursdays, flights leave Mesa at 2 p.m., arriving at McCarran at 2:10 p.m., with the return flights leaving Las Vegas at 2:50 p.m., arriving in Mesa at 5.
Fridays and Sundays, there will be two daily round trips with flights leaving Mesa at 2:50 and 6:30 p.m., arriving in Las Vegas at 3 and 6:40 p.m. The return flights will leave Las Vegas at 3:40 and 7:20 p.m., arriving in Mesa at 5:50 and 9:30 p.m.
When Allegiant decided to use its business model of flying between small cities and resorts and opened its operation in Mesa, a gateway to Arizona’s golf and spa resorts, it opted not to fly between Las Vegas and Mesa because of the heavy competition in the Las Vegas-Phoenix route. Between Southwest Airlines, US Airways and Mesa Airlines, there are 25 daily nonstop round trips between Las Vegas and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Allegiant partners with 40 Arizona resorts in its vacation packages.
Allegiant is introducing the Mesa route with $30 one-way flights, which don’t include various fees, including additional costs for booking tickets and flying baggage. Discounted tickets must be purchased by Oct. 16 for travel between Nov. 17 and Feb. 14 and they aren’t available on every flight.
In addition to Las Vegas and Mesa, Allegiant flies to Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and St. Petersburg, Fla., as resort gateways.