New destination, more direct flights added at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport

Just as the nation’s airlines begin to recover from the COVID-19 slowdown and families resume traveling for holidays and vacation, Allegiant announced Friday that it will begin offering nonstop flights to Charleston, South Carolina from MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah.

The new route, which was announced late Friday, will be offered twice weekly.

“Allegiant’s continued investment at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport with their 12th destination being Charleston, SC, speaks to the community’s strong desire for additional leisure travel options,” Bryan Johnson, director of MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, stated in a news release. “We appreciate Allegiant’s confidence in our market and contribution to our continued passenger growth.”

One way tickets can be had for as little as $65, according to the release from the airline. But the window of time to get the best fares is narrow.

Seats and dates are limited and fares are not available on all flights. Flights must be purchased by May 30 for travel by Aug. 16.

“Price displayed includes taxes, carrier charges & government fees. Optional baggage charges and additional restrictions may apply,” the release stated.

Allegiant’s announcement about its direct flights to Charlotte came barely a week after MidAmerica announced a $9.7 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant that Johnson said would expedite the airport’s terminal expansion project by up to a year. The project, which Johnson said should be completed by the end of 2022, will take the terminal to 98,599 square feet.

Johnson said the expanded terminal will help with booming demand for flights and a growing number of departures from the airport. In February, Johnson said in an interview with the Belleville News-Democrat that the demand has been created, in part, by Allegiant’s success with leisure travel.

“For us as an airport, being able to complete this project one year ahead of schedule saves us money and helps us accommodate the growth that we’re seeing,” Johnson said. “It fosters growth and helps expand the market a little bit more.”

The airport is anticipating its 2021 passenger total will be roughly 14% over 2019’s total when the airport saw its highest number of passengers ever, Johnson told the BND on May 18. Since 2015, the airport has grown from a yearly total of 63,000 passengers to more than 300,000 in 2019, and passenger counts have increased consistently to make MidAmerica the sixth-busiest passenger terminal in Illinois, according to annual MidAmerica reports.

This story was originally published May 29, 2021 at 11:24 AM.