Allegiant marks 6 years at airport

Staff report

VIENNA

It’s been six years since Allegiant Air left the Youngstown-Warren Airport its first time for a flight to Sanford International Airport in Florida.

Allegiant is the reason the airport increased its number of commercial passengers from zero in 2005 to 13,270 in 2006. And because of Allegiant, the airport now offers flights to Sanford, Tampa/St. Petersburg and Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Dan Dickten, the airport’s director of aviation, is hopeful that flights to Punta Gorda or Fort Lauderdale will start in November, he said Thursday as a crowd gathered at the airport to celebrate Allegiant’s anniversary.

The number of passengers has climbed steadily every year since 2006, with a projected 2012 number of 75,000, Dickten said. If that happens, the airport’s passenger number will be the highest it’s been since 1998.

Eric Planey, vice president for international/national business attraction for the Regional Chamber, was among several speakers who gave credit to Allegiant and Dickten for putting the airport back in a growth mode.

The percentage of the seats in Allegiant planes that are filled when Allegiant flies here — known as load factor — is very high, which gives the airport a great deal of credibility when it talks to other airlines about bringing additional flights here, Planey said.

The importance of the local airport will continue to grow as shale-gas representatives continue to come to the area.

“Shale people need to move, and they need it quickly,” Planey said.