The Las-Vegas based airlines, Allegiant Air, signed a commitment with the Air Lease Corporation(ALC) to add ten second-hand A320-200s on August 3, 2021. Allegiant Air will be receiving the leased aircraft from ALC between the autumn of 2021 and the summer of 2022.
Both Allegiant Air and ALC didn’t disclose any further details on the type of aircraft agreed upon the lease besides hinting the aircraft are fresh. The carrier currently operates 35 of the Airbus A319-100s, 79 of the Airbus A320-20s variants.
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Lease Placement Announcement
Air Lease Corporation had announced the news of long-term lease placements for 10 of the second-hand Airbus A320-200 with the Allegiant Air back on 28th July 2021. The Executive Chairman of Air Lease Corporation, Steven F. Udvar-Házy, had announced the news revealing that the young A320s planes will complement the Allegiant’s Airbus fleet giving the carrier a competitive advantage supporting the growth of its North American operations.
Allegiant’s Senior Vice President for Corporate Finance and Treasurer, Robert Neal, also stated how bringing these ten aircraft would provide numerous advantages to the company’s unique business model and goal. The young-sharklet-equipped sister aircraft, besides bringing efficiency in the carrier’s Airbus fleet, are also expected to provide years of utilization beyond the average life expectancy of the previously operated aircraft.
Allegiant’s Growth Plan
During the second quarter of 2021, Allegiant had a total of 103 aircraft in service by June’s end; Allegiant is planning to increase the number of aircraft in service to 108 by the end of 2021. The Las Vegas airlines had already signed 24 of the A320 series by July; due to the pandemic and economic blowout received by the aviation industry across the globe, Allegiant Air foresaw the opportunity of its growth amidst the pandemic epidemic.
With an average price discounted rate of 30% compared to the pre-pandemics price range, Allegiant swooped in the huge number of Airbus aircraft for its strategic growth.
However, Allegiant is not the only carrier that has seen the potential growth opportunity in the pandemic world; many airlines found the present scenario an opportune moment to implement strategic ambition. As the aircraft prices have gone way below the pre-pandemic market, many carriers are taking advantage of the current situation to add new aircraft or replace the older variants with newer product lines at a reasonable price.
Likely, with the plenty of new purchase opportunities, the airlines have also made aircraft retirements or returned the jets off of the lease earlier than the older variant aircraft. This has left lessor with more mid-life used aircraft with difficulties in finding a home for those aircraft. That’s where Allegiant shines; with attractive pricing from the overcrowded lessors, it has opened up a path for strategic investment from the carrier for its expansion.
Las Vegas airlines is quite popular for making opportunist investments; as a matter of fact, the airlines relies heavily on second-hand mid-life aircraft for its growth. Out of its entire fleet of 114 aircraft, just 13 of the A320s are with new-build while the remaining 101 are the opportunist addition to the carrier’s fleet from the second-hand market.
At present, Allegiant’s move in swooping in the second-hand A320-200s from the ALC has been taken as a valuable component for its growth and fleet plan for 2022 and beyond. Although it has not outlined its intentional number of additional aircraft for the year 2022, the airline is expected to have a massive fleet of 127 aircraft next year, 19 more than the fleet size it will reach by the end of 2021.
Allegiant Air
Founded in 1997, certified by the U.S. Department of Transportation(DOT) as Scheduled Air Carrier, Las Vegas airlines have made leisure affordable and convenient travels from American cities to world-class destinations. With the low-fares and nonstop all-jet services, including the perks of the premier travel partners, Allegiant has authority to operate scheduled and charter airlines operations throughout the U.S., including the charter services to Canada and Mexico.
