Spirit Airlines (SAVE) or Southwest Airlines (LUV) ? For many budget travelers in the U.S., this will often turn out to be the million-dollar question.
While the latter is known for a very generous baggage policy that allows two bags regardless of ticket fare, Spirit often offers lower base fares and has a network that is spread out across the country rather than being tied to a region.
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Turns out, the actual answer might be neither. Skytrax, which has just come out with its annual ranking of airlines globally, named the Las Vegas-based Allegiant Airlines (ALGT) as the best budget airline in North America. Second and third place were rounded out by Sun County Airlines (the Minneapolis-based airline earned a loyal following by shuttling Midwesterners to sunny destinations) and Southwest, respectively, while Spirit landed in sixth.
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Allegiant ‘bridges the gap’ to premier vacation destinations
“As a leisure focused airline, our unique business model bridges the gap in connecting small-to-medium sized cities to premier vacation destinations,” Allegiant President Gregory C. Anderson said in a statement. “This accolade reaffirms the important value we bring to the communities we serve and acknowledges our long history of providing great service at an attractive price for our customers.”
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Air Canada Rouge (ACDVF) and Avelo rounded out the top five for North America but, on the global stage, no airlines from this part of the world landed in the top 10. Malaysian carrier AirAsia once again took the top spot while Allegiant is 18th on the world stage.
When it comes to the best airline overall, Qatar Airways pushed out Singapore Airlines (SINGF) for the top spot. Those two have been the top contenders for first and second place year after year. This marks the eight time that Qatar Airways held the top spot since 2011. Singapore Airlines’ budget offshoot Scoot also took top spots as second-best overall and the top low-cost airline for long-haul flights.
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Skytrax CEO congratulates Allegiant amid ‘very competitive’ market
“This is an extremely competitive market sector and customers were clearly impressed by the affordable and reliable travel experience provided by Allegiant Air,” Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted said in a statement. “The management and staff of Allegiant Air should be extremely proud of this achievement.”
Allegiant Airlines was founded in 1997 but has expanded significantly with new routes to different cities over the last five years. But while the formerly largely regional airline has quickly been gaining national recognition, it has also struggled with some unprofitable routes and changing market conditions.
Allegiant on June 24 announced that it would be closing its hub in Austin at the start of 2025. It will continue flying in and out of the city but, as the airport’s South Terminal will soon close for renovations, will not have the space to keep so much of its planes and crew.
At the end of 2023, the airline also added new routes to Orlando International Airport (MCO) from North Carolina’s Asheville, Pennsylvania’s Allentown and Tennessee’s Knoxville. All of these stay with the trend of the airline’s reputation as the carrier to take on the way to a sunny destination.
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