Allegiant cancels planned isle service

Allegiant Air said it has no plans to cancel any other routes in the wake of pulling the plug on its once-a-week service between Monterey, Calif., and Hono­lulu that had been scheduled to begin Nov. 16.

The Las Vegas-based carrier, which entered the Hawaii market in June with service from Las Vegas and Fresno, Calif., still plans to add routes to the islands from seven more mainland cities.

"We’ve seen some seasonality with bookings, but overall they’re doing OK," Allegiant spokes­woman Jessica Wheeler said of both the airline’s existing and new flights. "In general, we do not cancel flights that are doing well and booking."

The Monterey service, which was canceled Friday, would have been the first from that city to Hono­lulu and could have brought to Hawaii as many as 223 passengers a week on Allegiant’s Boeing 757 aircraft.

"Unfortunately, the Monterey-to-Hono­lulu route did not generate the demand we had expected," Wheeler said. "We have an obligation to use our resources where there is demand."

Wheeler declined to disclose booking numbers on the Monterey route but said that Allegiant’s goal is to always get 90 percent capacity on its flights.

"Bookings on the Monterey flights were significantly less than the other flights," she said.

Monterey Regional Airport deputy manager Charlie Hayes said in the Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper Friday that bookings for the first flight were almost full but later in the year were in the 20 percent to 30 percent range.

Wheeler said Allegiant is seeing "a little bit of a drop" in bookings for the off-peak months of October, November, January and February.

She said Allegiant has no immediate plans to announce any additional Hono­lulu routes.

In November, Allegiant will begin two flights a week from Bellingham, Wash., to both Hono­lulu and Maui; a second weekly flight from Fresno; and weekly flights from Eugene, Ore., and the California cities of Santa Maria and Stockton. The Las Vegas service is three days a week.

In February, Allegiant starts weekly service from Boise, Idaho, and Spokane, Wash., and three days a week from Phoenix.