Allegiant sees Mexico as a “green field”: CEO

A week after Mexican ultra-low-cost carrier Viva Aerobus and Allegiant Air applied to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for a transborder commercial alliance, the US discount carrier’s chief executive Maurice Gallagher says Mexico is a “green field” that holds many possibilities for the airline. Speaking publicly about the joint venture for the first time since its announcement on 1 December, Gallagher says Allegiant and Viva are “cut from the same cloth”, and have similar ambitions for their own – and now each other’s - budget-conscious customers. “If you want to go to Mexico now you are connecting through a hub,” Gallagher says during a keynote address at the Future Travel Experience Global conference in Las Vegas on 8 December. But within the framework of the future alliance with Viva, Allegiant has a list of “40-some cities” from which it can now consider introducing what he calls ”a leisure nonstop product”. “We have 1,000 more routes on top of our current 600 that are out there for us to harvest in the next couple of years,” he adds. In Las Vegas-based Allegiant, Viva would get a partner that can help it reach a wider client base north of the border. “Trying to penetrate the traditional US customer has been difficult for them,” Gallagher adds. “They just don’t have the resources.”<br/>