WARWICK – The first passenger to disembark from the inaugural Allegiant flight into T.F. Green Thursday was Bo, a curly-haired dog who jumped ahead of owner Brian Sullivan.
Sullivan and the Lhasa Apso-Bichon Frise mix were heading back to their home in Rhode Island Thursday, arriving on a direct flight from Punta Gorda, Fla.
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Allegiant, a Las Vegas-based carrier, will service Green Airport with direct flights to Punta Gorda and St. Petersburg in Florida, as well as Cincinnati, Ohio. The airline is promoting special deals from Providence to these cities, all with one-way flights of $38.
The discount carrier is the fourth new airline to service Rhode Island this year. In a decision earlier this month, state economic development officials agreed to award the carrier $171,429 in incentives from the Air Service Development Fund.
Its arrival at about 10:40 a.m. was marked by a water salute from airport-based fire trucks. Disembarking passengers found themselves greeted by media, airport officials and long tables with Allegiant-branded water bottles and pastries.
The carrier has a distinctive and vibrantly colored sunburst on its tail fin. The flight was almost full, according to an Allegiant employee, who filmed the arrival.
“It’s a good day for us,” said Iftikhar Ahmad, the CEO and president of the R.I. Airport Corp., just before the gate door opened.
“These kinds of flights are less than $50. What this does is it lowers the fares of everyone else, and gives us greater connectivity to everywhere else.”
After a long decline in airport passengers, Green this year has experienced steady growth.
“We need to increase it,” Ahmad said. “A state needs a robust airport to support robust business functions.”
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer. Email her at MacDonald@PBN.com
