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Allegiant Adding New Orleans Flights From Concord As Airport Expands

Passengers leave an Allegiant Air jet at Concord Regional Airport.
Mark Rumsey
/
WFAE
Passengers leave an Allegiant Air jet at Concord Regional Airport.

Allegiant Air will add non-stop service from Concord Regional Airport to New Orleans this fall. It will be the discount carrier's first destination outside Florida from the airport east of Charlotte.  

New Orleans flights are scheduled to begin Nov. 18.

Allegiant’s announcement comes as the Concord airport is in the midst of building a new passenger terminal and parking deck.  That’s now scheduled to open in October. Concord Aviation Director Rick Cloutier said rainy weather earlier this year delayed construction by two to three months:

"We're just about four weeks away from completion of the project,” Cloutier said. “We're planning on an early-October opening and start date for the project - and we'll be moving all of our operations down to that new building the beginning of October."  

Allegiant currently has flights from Concord to the Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa-St. Petersburg areas. The airline plans to begin service to Punta Gorda, near Ft. Myers, in October. 

Cloutier said airport officials are talking with other airlines about adding service in Concord as well. 

“We'd like to continue to expand our non-stop destinations to other regional..other markets, including northern area routes and Midwest markets,” Cloutier said.

The airport hopes to reach agreements by the end of the year that could lead to additional airline service beginning sometime in 2017.  

Mark Rumsey grew up in Kansas and got his first radio job at age 17 in the town of Abilene, where he announced easy-listening music played from vinyl record albums.