The parent company of Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air continued its rapid earnings pace, reporting a double-digit percentage increase in revenue and earnings that increased more than 90% over the same quarter a year ago.
Allegiant reported second-quarter earnings of $23.9 million, compared to earnings of $2.6 million in the same period in 2008.
“We had another very good quarter, our third highly profitable quarter in a row,” Allegiant CEO Maurice Gallagher said in a release issued with the earnings results. “In these extremely difficult times when our industry has substantially reduced its operations and seen record declines in unit revenue, we are pleased to report these quality numbers.”
Growth was the key to Allegiant’s success. The company opened a new Southern California base offering seven new routes from Los Angeles International Airport on May 1. Gallagher said the Southern California routes are off to a great start with load factors running ahead of projections.
“This further diversifies our exposure to regional economies and offers more protection to us in these uncertain times,” Gallagher said.
Allegiant inaugurated its new Cuban family charter program in the second quarter, operating between Miami and four Cuban cities.
Growth at Allegiant doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon as the airline announced it plans to have 46 MD80 twin-engine jets in its fleet by the end of the year, up from the 43 it presently operates. The company announced the acquisition from Japan Airlines of seven jets, which will be parted out to bolster the company’s maintenance inventory.
The company also said it expects third-quarter departure growth of about 30 percent, fourth-quarter departure growth of about 20 percent and full-year growth of at least 20 percent over 2008 by the end of the year.
