Allegiant Shares Jump on First Day

The company's stock closed up nearly 40 percent on the Nasdaq market.

Shares of low-cost airline Allegiant Air soared Friday in its first day of trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.

The stock, which had been priced at $18, opened at $24 and closed at $25.10, up nearly 40 percent. That makes it the second-best airline IPO in history in terms of price appreciation on the first day of trading, according to marketwatch.com.

Allegiant, which began serving the Lincoln Airport in February with twice-weekly flights to Las Vegas, said it was hoping to raise as much as $95 million from the initial public offering of stock to pay off debts and buy more aircraft.

Begun in 1997 as a charter airline, the Las Vegas-based company began targeting leisure travelers with commercial flights in the past couple of years and has grown rapidly. It now serves about 50 mid-size and small cities with flights to Las Vegas and Orlando and St. Petersburg, Fla.

In most markets, it provides the only nonstop service on the routes it flies.

Allegiant went bankrupt in 2000 but has been profitable recently. As of Sept. 30, the company reported year-to-date net income of just more than $10 million, up more than 30 percent over last year.

Allegiant has expanded service significantly at nearby airports such as Sioux Falls, S.D., Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Springfield, Mo., but it does not appear to have any plans to increase service in Lincoln.

The company debuted Wednesday and Saturday flights from Lincoln to Las Vegas in February and through Nov. 30 had carried just more than 18,000 passengers, according to figures from the Lincoln Airport.

Company spokeswoman Tyri Squyres did not comment on whether service in Lincoln is meeting the company's expectations and said Allegiant has no plans to "change anything we are currently doing"in Lincoln.

Airport Director John Wood said he hopes to sit down with representatives from the airline next year and discuss possibilities for expansion, including adding service to Orlando.

"It's on our list of wants,"Wood said.

As for the service Lincoln currently has from Allegiant, Wood couldn't be happier.

He said the airline has never canceled a Lincoln flight, and he could recall only two instances when passengers had serious delays leaving Lincoln.

"Their service has been great,"Wood said. "I really can't complain.

"You can't ask for anything better from an airline."

Allegiant's stock is traded under the symbol ALGT.

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