Spirit sees no impact on Akron service with Allegiant gone

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Spirit Airlines does not believe Allegiant Air’s decision to move its Akron service to Cleveland will impact its new Akron service.

Spirit will launch service Nov. 10 from Akron-Canton to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Orlando International Airport and Tampa International Airport.

In April 2017, seasonal service to Myrtle Beach International Airport will launch.

In Akron, Allegiant offers flights to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Savannah, Ga.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and Orlando-Sanford, Punta Gorda and St. Pete-Clearwater in Florida.

Las Vegas-based Allegiant announced it would move its Akron-Canton service to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport just two months after Spirit said it would launch there.

“There’s really no effect on us,” said Paul Berry, Spirit spokesman, of Allegiant leaving Akron. “We were coming in here to provide the lowest [fares] to the area.”

Allegiant has said it didn’t leave Akron-Canton because Spirit came in, but rather because most of its passengers at Akron-Canton came from the Cleveland area.

The Allegiant service in Cleveland will launch in February 2017 with four new destinations in addition to the six it will move from Akron to Cleveland. Allegiant’s new flights at Cleveland are: Jacksonville, Fla., via the Jacksonville International Airport; Austin, Texas, via the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport; New Orleans via the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport; and Phoenix via the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.

Passengers with reservations on or after Feb. 15, 2017, from Akron-Canton Airport can be re-ticketed via Cleveland Hopkins or receive a full refund.

For its launch at Akron-Canton, Spirit is offering customers a chance to win free flights for four years. For more information go to, yellowoutohio.com/.