Las Vegas-based airline manages to grow despite economy

Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air managed to stay one step ahead of the economy in 2008, increasing the number of scheduled passengers flown by 29.1 percent compared to 2007.

Allegiant, which specializes in cheap flights from small towns to Las Vegas, Florida and Arizona, has managed to outperform other airlines by flexing its schedule to fly only when it is profitable and encouraging passengers to load up on add-ons such as hotel rooms, show tickets and preferred seating. Allegiant also flies older MD-80 aircraft, which are relatively cheap to purchase.

The airline released fourth-quarter and full-year passenger data on Tuesday, with an earnings report to follow Jan. 27.

It flew nearly 3.9 million passengers on the year, compared to 3 million in 2007. It also did so with fewer available seats, which meant a higher load factor by 6.8 percentage points. Load factor is the percentage of full seats on a given flight. For Allegiant, the 2008 load factor was 89.9 percent.

Even in December, when the recession had fully flowered, Allegiant increased the number of passengers by 12.6 percent to 379,907. However, the airline did post an 8.6 percent decline in traffic to Las Vegas in November, suggesting much of its growth is in the Arizona and Florida markets.