Allegiant to suspend Duluth-Las Vegas flights

For the first time since Allegiant Air started its direct Duluth-Las Vegas service in 2006, it is suspending the twice-weekly flights.
It’s a seasonal suspension during Duluth’s slow time, according to Allegiant spokesman Justin Ralenkotter.
The Duluth flights are scheduled through Aug. 17, but not after that on Allegiant’s recently released extended schedule. Flights are listed through early November for Allegiant’s Las Vegas service to Sioux Falls, S.D.; Grand Forks, Fargo, Bismarck and Minot, N.D.; and Grand Rapids, Mich., in the region, but not Duluth.
So far, there’s no resumption date set for the Duluth-Las Vegas service. That will be revealed on Allegiant’s next schedule extension, Ralenkotter said last week.
“We will continue to evaluate the route,” he said. “We see travel between Duluth and Las Vegas peak during the late winter and springtime travel period, so this just reflects Allegiant’s tailoring the schedule to better match when local travelers want to go to Vegas.”
On Friday, Thomas Werner, executive director of the Duluth Airport Authority, was unaware of the coming suspension in the Duluth-Las Vegas service.
“I have received nothing from them saying a suspension is imminent,” he told the News Tribune. “In fact, I have had no contact from the airlines stating that or had any discussions about that. I can’t confirm it.”
He said typically airlines don’t release third- and fourth-quarter schedules this early in the year.
“We’re anticipating Allegiant continuing service,” he said.
The seasonal suspension of the Las Vegas service follows Allegiant ending its Duluth-Phoenix service in July and its Duluth-Orlando service in September due to insufficient demand. Both routes had been reduced from year-round to seasonal service before they were eliminated completely. Their removal left the Las Vegas flights as Allegiant’s only service in Duluth.
After growing from 2006 to 2012 in Duluth, Allegiant’s passenger numbers had declined at the Duluth International Airport. The Las Vegas numbers have been lower than what the Duluth airport would like to see, Natalie Peterson, the airport’s communications and marketing director, said last month. It prompted the airport to increase its marketing of the Las Vegas service last year.
Allegiant’s goal is 90 percent capacity in its flights in and out of Duluth, Ralenkotter said. Douglas MD-80s, which seat 166 passengers, are most often used for the Duluth-Las Vegas flights.
Based in Las Vegas, Allegiant is a niche carrier offering low fares from 90 smaller regional airports to 16 leisure destinations around the country.