Allegiant announces new flights from Las Vegas

Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air is entering five new markets, including Indianapolis, and will offer three round trips a week there from Las Vegas beginning in February.

The airline on Wednesday announced 14 new routes and will be adding cities that are larger than those the company normally targets. In addition to Indianapolis, Allegiant plans flights in Omaha, Neb.; Richmond, Va.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Pittsburgh.

Allegiant will compete on the route with Southwest Airlines, which recently reduced its Indianapolis schedule from three times a day to twice daily.

Allegiant will operate the route Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays beginning Feb. 27 with 10 a.m. departures from McCarran International Airport and 5:30 p.m. flights from Indianapolis International Airport.

In addition to routes from the new cities in the network, Allegiant is adding flights to four established Florida destinations: Fort Lauderdale, Punta Gorda, Clearwater and Orlando’s Sanford International Airport.

The airline is establishing new Florida connections to Syracuse, N.Y.; Columbus, Ohio; Hagerstown, Md.; Austin, Texas; and Cincinnati.

Allegiant recently adopted a strategy of targeting larger cities that have lost service from larger air carriers. Allegiant and Denver-based Frontier Airlines pounced on Cincinnati when Delta Air Lines reduced its schedule there recently.

Allegiant flies twin-engine 166-passenger MD-80, 156-passenger Airbus A319, 177-passenger Airbus A320 and 215-passenger Boeing 757 jets on its routes, but hasn’t announced what equipment would be used on the Indianapolis route.

Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.