Customers flying on Allegiant Air from Springfield to Orlando, Fla., will soon be traveling into a different airport.
Allegiant announced Tuesday that flights from Springfield to the central Florida vacation destination will arrive in Orlando International Airport (MCO), the state's busiest airport, beginning Feb. 15. Currently, flights to and from Orlando go into Orlando-Sanford International Airport (SFB), nearly 30 miles to the northeast of Orlando.
The new destination cuts in half the travel time to most of Orlando's biggest attractions, including Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld.
"Moving service from Orlando-Sanford to Orlando International accomplishes two things for Allegiant," Allegiant Air Vice President of Planning Robert Ashcroft said in a news release. "First, it allows us to be responsive to the many Springfield travelers who prefer the proximity of Orlando International to the most prominent attractions in the Orlando area. Second, it improves our position relative to competitors with service to Orlando International."
Orlando International is significantly larger than its counterpart in Sanford; passenger figures showed 35.7 million people traveled through MCO last year, compared to 1.8 million at SFB.
Flight frequency between Springfield and Orlando will remain the same; flights will travel between the two facilities on Monday and Friday initially, though airport spokesman Kent Boyd said those schedules fluctuate seasonally depending on demand.
The change in destination is accompanied by introductory fares of $80 each way when purchased at the Allegiant ticket counter. The special rate is valid for flights purchased by Dec. 16 for travel through May 31.
Meanwhile, Delta Airlines is dropping its service from Springfield to Minneapolis, according to the airport's e-newsletter.
The airline dropped the service temporarily in the summer but resumed flights based on strong advanced fall bookings, according to the newsletter. Poor performance in October and November, however, caused the decision to pull service permanently.
Airport officials attribute the loss of service to continued fallout from the October 2008 merger of Delta and Northwest Airlines, both of which provided service to and from Springfield.
"Before the merger Delta and Northwest provided us with service to Memphis, Detroit, Cincinnati, Minneapolis and Atlanta," officials said in the newsletter. "Since the merger we've lost Cincinnati, Detroit, and now Minneapolis.
