Happy Anniversary!

During the month of February, Fort Wayne International Airport will celebrate the five year anniversary of Allegiant Airlines’ arrival. Allegiant’s arrival made affordable, non-stop flights to vacation destinations possible from the FWA runways. Throughout the past five years, 200,000 passengers from our region have taken to the skies on this prestigious airline. 

When non-stop flights to Orlando and Las Vegas became available in February of 2007, FWA fliers were hooked. The prices were unbeatable and the flights were enjoyable. Over the course of time, this non-stop flight success led Allegiant to fly from Fort Wayne to several other destinations such as Myrtle Beach, Tampa/St.Petersburg, Phoenix and Fort Lauderdale. Seats were selling and community members were taking advantage of the convenient service.

Unfortunately, passenger demand is only one measure of the success of a flight. Several markets fell victim to the cost pressures presented by the increased cost of oil. Since fuel accounts for approximately 40 percent of the total cost of a flight, even the smallest increase has an immediate impact on profitability. The longer the aircraft flies, the greater the disparity between revenue and cost. It is this gap that caused Allegiant to redefine the flights offered from FWA. The decision to concentrate on shorter flights led to the removal of longer destination travels.

Corporate decisions aside, we continue to push for the reinstallation of flights to Las Vegas and Phoenix. We believe that the revenue needed to profitably support these flights is in the Fort Wayne market.

Fort Wayne International Airport looks forward to the next five years with Allegiant Airlines as we continue to provide passengers with safe, reliable and cost effective transportation. Thank you for your continued support. 

You can follow Smith Field Airport and Fort Wayne International Airport on Facebook and Twitter or on our websites www.smdairport.com, www.flyfwa.com, www.fwairport.com.