Allegiant Travel reports rare drop in passengers

In what has been a rarity during its existence, Allegiant Travel Co. posted a decline in the number of passengers it carried in April.

For the entire system, the passenger count for all flying went down 4.3 percent from the last month last year to 602,000. This largely reflects a cutback in charter flying that company executives had previously announced.

On scheduled flights alone, the passenger count dipped 0.8 percent to 591,000 due in part to Easter falling in March this year compared to April 2012. With a clientele almost exclusively traveling on vacations, a change in the timing of a major holiday can influence results.

But overall growth has slowed as well. The number of miles each seat flew went up only 3.6 percent despite the launch of routes to Hawaii in the past year.

Looking ahead, the number of flights are projected to drop from 3 percent to 7 percent in the second quarter and 8 percent to 12 percent in the third quarter. Much of the effect comes from scaling back charters.

Contact reporter Tim O’Reiley at
toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.