Allegiant Air has added eight flights to its service from Punta Gorda Airport.
The Las Vegas-based carrier provides point- to-point flights to small regional airports nationwide.
Jude Bricker, the Senior Vice President of Planning for Allegiant, said the decision to expand service from Punta Gorda to destinations in the Midwest and Northeast was easy.
“It’s fantastically convenient,” he said. “If you live in Columbus, or Asheville or Allentown now you can fly in here and be at the beach in four hours and have a fantastic vacation.”
New destinations also include Bangor, Maine; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Youngstown, Ohio; Branson, Missouri and Moline, Illinois.
The low cost carrier’s increased presence in Punta Gorda will double its employees at the airport from about 50 to 100. Bricker said Allegiant will recruit most new employees locally.
Punta Gorda Airport is small potatoes compared to Ft. Myers which is about 30 miles south. However, it is having an impact, especially on tourism.
Present at the announcement of the eight new destinations was Jack Wert, who heads up Collier County’s office of tourism.
“Just from the flights that Allegiant has had to date we have definitely seen a number of people come down into Collier County and stay with us in our hotels – these new cities that they’re adding are great feeder markets for us and we think it’s going to be great for us and the whole area,” Wert said.
The Punta Gorda Airport is located minutes away from I-75 and US-41. The new flights will bring the number of destinations from Punta Gorda to 19. An airport expansion from 2 gates to 4 is also in the works and should be complete by the fall of 2015.
