Allegiant Air Inaugurates Flights Between Cincinnati & Orlando

On Friday, Allegiant Air launched its first-ever flight from Cincinnati to Melbourne, Florida. The route will allow passengers to access several destinations in the Sunshine State.

CVG to MLB by Allegiant

On Friday, November 15th, Allegiant Air inaugurated its nonstop service from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) to Melbourne Orlando International Airport (MLB). According to Local 12 News, the route was first announced in July and will run through February 10th of next year. If there is enough demand, the airline will extend this deadline.

The first flight was scheduled to depart from CVG at 15:55 EST and arrive at 17:48 EST. According to data from Flight Aware, the aircraft departed from the gate on time and flew for two hours, during which time it traveled 838 miles before reaching its destination at 18:06 EST.

The airline operated the flight using an Airbus A320-200 (registration: N190NV), a nine-and-a-half-year-old delivered to Allegiant in March 2022. According to ch-aviation, the aircraft is equipped in a full economy configuration with 186 total seats.

The flight will be available on Fridays and Mondays. MLB is strategically located to give incoming passengers easy access to a variety of destinations along Florida’s eastern coast, including Melbourne Beach, Indian River Shores, Sebastian, and Cocoa Beach.

Simple Flying has contacted Allegiant for a statement about the new route.

Allegiant and CVG

Allegiant has maintained a large presence in CVG since it began operations at the airport 10 years ago, in February 2014. The airline now serves 22 destinations out of CVG, including this latest route to MLB.

The Las Vegas-based carrier is not the only ultra-low-cost airline that offers its services at CVG. Frontier Airlines, Breeze Airways, and Sun Country Airlines also offer services. However, Breeze and Sun Country only fly to three full-time destinations combined, Leaving mainly Frontier to compete with Allegiant.

About Allegiant

Allegiant Air has been in business since January 1997 and is one of the leading ultra-low-cost carriers in the US. It is the 14th largest airline in North America and has a market cap of $1.43 billion. The airline returned to profitability in 2023 after a rough patch due to COVID-19 and posted a net income of $117.60 million.

The airline has an extensive network that focuses on smaller destinations to reduce competition and maximize profits. Its low fares offer the bare minimum, with everything else, including checked baggage, marketed as an add-on. These add-ons are where the airline makes most of its revenue.

It follows the low-cost model popularized by Southwest and operated a fleet exclusively comprised of the 117 Airbus A320neo family aircraft, including the Airbus A319 and A320 variants. However, the airline placed an order for 25 Boeing 737 MAX 8 200s, the first of which was delivered to the airline six months ago. Allegiant plans to retire its A320s with the high-density variant of the 737 MAX 8.

The airline has also placed an order for 24 Boeing 737 MAX 7s, the smallest variant of the MAX family. Unfortunately, Boeing has had numerous delays with the type, and it is unclear when the airline will receive its first type.