Low-fare airline Allegiant Air announces new service from KCI to Florida

Kansas City and Allegiant Air on Tuesday announced three new routes to Florida beginning in November.

The low-fare airline, a subsidiary of publicly traded, Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel Co., will fly to the Orlando, Fort Myers/Tampa and St. Petersburg areas, with flights operating twice a week.

As part of its debut in Kansas City, the company is offering introductory one-way fares as low as $49 through Friday for travel by Feb. 16, 2016.

“We are really excited, and our hope as a company is that the service takes off and we are able to add more destinations and more flights and more options” in the near future, said Lukas Johnson, vice president of network and pricing for Allegiant Air.

Allegiant Air will fly nonstop from KCI to St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport starting Nov. 12 and Orlando Sanford International Airport and Punta Gorda Airport starting Nov. 13.

Flight information and fares are at www.allegiant.com.

This is the first new carrier at KCI since Spirit Airlines came a year ago and the third new airline in four years. Alaska Airlines entered the Kansas City market in 2012.

The addition of a new low-fare airline is good news for the Kansas City traveler because it brings competition, said Mark VanLoh, director of aviation for the Kansas City Aviation Department.

“We’re thinking that will stimulate the market and drive costs down for our passengers,” VanLoh said.

Allegiant Air appears to be taking on Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which offer nonstop flights to Orlando. Southwest also offers nonstop flights to Fort Myers and Tampa.

Allegiant Air, however, will fly into the smaller, alternate airports in those markets.

“We feel pretty confident that this is the right time to serve the region,” Johnson said.

This story was originally published August 11, 2015 at 11:04 AM with the headline "Low-fare airline Allegiant Air announces new service from KCI to Florida."