Fort Wayne Airport Receives Top Honors From Allegiant Air

CONGRATULATIONS FORT WAYNE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT!

In a release from Allegiant Air this morning:

Fort Wayne International Airport is flying high after being recognized by Allegiant Air for “Most Creative New Service Campaign” at the first annual Allegiant Air Airport Conference in Las Vegas, Nev. Fort Wayne was one of only five airports to be recognized for outstanding achievements at a special awards dinner held Feb. 6.

Tory Richardson, Executive Director of Airports, and Kristi Holmes, Community & Government Affairs Manager, of the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority were in attendance and received the award from Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr., Allegiant Travel Company president and CEO.

“I would like to congratulate the Fort Wayne International Airport and thank them for the support they have shown us,” said Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr. “The airport management team and Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority have been a pleasure to work with and we look forward to a successful, long lasting relationship.”

The airport was recognized for their outstanding marketing campaign to encourage Allegiant Air to bring low-cost nonstop service to Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz. and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. for the Fort Wayne community. As part of the innovative campaign, the airport launched an election race between two characters, Nick Phoenix and F.T. Lauderdale. These clever candidates could be seen around Fort Wayne campaigning for their destination.

Each candidate made quite an impression; the airport received more than 150,000 emails voting for their favorite candidate. On Aug. 28, 2007, Allegiant Air announced they would bring service to both destinations.

The low-cost airline inaugurated service to Phoenix on Nov. 21, 2007 and began flights to Fort Lauderdale Dec. 14, 2007. Allegiant began serving the Fort Wayne community Feb. 16, 2007.

The Allegiant Air Airport Conference invited airports currently served by Allegiant Air and airports that would like Allegiant’s low-cost nonstop service in their respective areas. Airports had the opportunity to meet with Allegiant representatives and attend workshops that cover a variety of airport related topics. More than 100 airports were in attendance for the conference that was held at Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, Feb. 5 through 7, 2008.