Allegiant Air expected to end Portsmouth flights from Pease to Nashville

PORTSMOUTH — Allegiant Air is not expected to renew its route from the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease to Nashville in 2024, an official confirmed Wednesday.

Paul Brean, executive director of the Pease Development Authority, said “we haven’t been officially notified” about the route cancellation, but Allegiant has not included the Nashville flights on its plans for the airport next year.

“We don’t see it on for next season,” Brean said.

The low-cost carrier offered the Nashville flights out of the Portsmouth airport – which is located at the former home of the Pease Air Force Base – this year from June to September, Brean said.

“They ran their seasonal schedule as advertised. They didn’t halt it, they didn’t cut it short, but we don’t see it lining up for next year,” he said.

Asked about the popularity of the flights from Portsmouth to Nashville, Brean said, “We felt that our loads (the amount of passengers on each plane) were fairly strong.”

But he acknowledged the service offered by Allegiant out of Portsmouth was “somewhat of a tough flight for leisure travelers.”

“It got in fairly late at night and hotel rooms are not inexpensive in Nashville,” he said about the home of country music.

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The airline also faced strong daily competition out of Logan Airport in Boston, according to Brean, which includes JetBlue.

Most of “the legacy airlines” also have flights to Nashville out of Logan, he said.

He described the Nashville flights as a “seasonal” route, and said “it’s not uncommon” for “many routes to take a hiatus for a season.”

“Destinations like Savannah and Myrtle Beach paused service and have come back later on,” Brean said.

He noted Allegiant continues to offer what have traditionally been and continue to be strong routes out of Portsmouth to Florida locations, like Punta Gorda and Sanford.

“They’re doing extremely well,” Brean said. “That model of really getting people who want to enjoy sunshine in the winter from Portsmouth is working."

Allegiant Airlines issued a statement late Wednesday afternoon, saying the “route is on a seasonal hiatus.”

“For competitive reasons, we can’t share future route plans but there’s always a possibility for this route to return,” Allegiant said about the Nashville route. “We have a dedicated team of network planners who are constantly analyzing and adjusting service to best fit our customers’ needs and adjust to market conditions. We will continue to assess our current and past markets and adjust service accordingly.”

The company also stated “Allegiant is unique among airlines as a low-cost carrier that is 100 percent focused on leisure travel.”

“As a rule, we consider all of our routes to be seasonal because our business model is built on demand and seasonality,” the company said. “Our structure is designed to be flexible so that we can offer leisure travelers low-cost airfare during vacation seasons.”

The company announced in November that it was adding 12 new non-stop routes across the country.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Allegiant Air expected to end Portsmouth NH flights to Nashville