Allegiant Travel’s growth accelerates in January

After launching a flurry new flights since October, most involving Florida, Allegiant Travel Co. traffic growth accelerated in January.

During the month, the parent company of Allegiant Air carried 597,000 passengers, 13.2 percent higher than the January 2013. By contrast, passenger growth for all of last year was only 3.6 percent.

The 4,383 flights in January were up 11.7 percent, compared for the 4.7 percent drop for all of last year.

Load factor, the industry term for occupancy rate, went down 1 percentage point to 83.8 percent as the amount of flying outpaced passenger growth.

Besides the new service, Allegiant has eliminated much of its charter flying. That affected the 2013 results, as scheduled service grew at a must faster clip than the entire system.

To mid-year, Allegiant projects that departures will grow from 8 percent to 14 percent.