Allegiant Air to Add 19 A319s to its Growing Fleet
Posted on | August 1, 2012 | No Comments
Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air, the rapidly expanding low-cost carrier owned by Allegiant Travel Co., said it will lease 19 used Airbus A319s to expand its fleet. The additional aircraft will begin entering Allegiant’s fleet in the 2013 second quarter.
Allegiant plans to use the aircraft to support planned growth and to replace at least two older aircraft. “The A319 is a new aircraft type for Allegiant, but we otherwise see this as a continuation of our existing business model,” president Andrew Levy said. “A319 asset values have significantly declined and now mirror the environment we saw when we first began buying MD-80s.”
Allegiant’s fleet currently comprises 58 MD-80s, as well as four Boeing 757-200s it is using to launch Hawaii services. Allegiant presently also owns two additional 757-200s.
The airline said it will lease nine A319s from GE Aviation Capital Services and 10 A319s from Cebu Pacific Air; it plans to eventually buy the 10 aircraft from Cebu Pacific. At this time, Allegiant only plans to retire two MD-80s, portending strong capacity expansion over the next several years. All of the A319s are expected to be in service with Allegiant by the 2015 third quarter.
