ST. CLOUD -- The St. Cloud Regional Airport is a busier place these days, as central Minnesotans escape the cold for warmer weather. Airport Director Bill Towle was on the News @ Noon Show Thursday.

He says the twice-weekly Allegiant Airlines flights to both Punta Gorda, Florida and Mesa, Arizona are almost full on a consistent basis. The flights to Mesa will ramp up to five per week during spring break season in March.

One note though, last year when we had four flights to Mesa during that same time period we pretty much ran out of parking.  So, something to consider for folks to watch as they're buying their tickets for March to consider having somebody drop them off.

He says when he met with Allegiant officials in October he asked about flights from St. Cloud to Las Vegas because that is the number three travel destination for central Minnesotans.

One of the things Allegiant tells us is they don't need to grow in Las Vegas anymore.  They have a plan for growth at various destinations around the country and one of the places they don't need to grow anymore is Las Vegas.

Towle says, if Allegiant adds destinations from St. Cloud, it would be more likely be other places in Florida or the Carolinas. In the meantime, this spring Allegiant will have seven weekly flights from St. Cloud with five going to Mesa and two to Punta Gorda.

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