ALLEGIANT TRAVEL COMPANY

SECOND QUARTER 2011 FINANCIAL RESULTS

34th Consecutive Profitable Quarter

Fully Diluted Earnings per Share of $.62

Las Vegas, Nev., August 1, 2011 /GLOBE NEWSWIRE/ – Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ: ALGT) today reported the following financial results for the 2^nd quarter 2011 and comparisons to prior year equivalents:

*Total system includes scheduled service, fixed-fee contract and non-revenue flying

“We are very proud to report our 34^th consecutive profitable quarter,” stated Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Allegiant Travel Company.  “I’d like to thank our Team Members for their great efforts and contributions to another successful quarter.

“Revenues have been very strong.  Scheduled service revenues were up almost 24% versus 2^nd quarter 2010 despite a reduction in capacity.  The $19 increase in revenue per passenger more than offset the $15 per passenger increase in fuel cost during the quarter.

“We are also very excited about the addition of the first 757 to our operating certificate, which occurred on July 1.  We recently began operating this 217 seat aircraft on two of our Las Vegas routes, McAllen, Texas and Rockford, Illinois and have been receiving excellent feedback from our customers.  Having the additional seats during the peak summer travel period is proving to be quite valuable.  We are now working on preparing our application to the FAA for obtaining the requisite ETOPS approvals we need in order to commence Hawaii flights which we hope to be able to begin next summer.

“The introduction of the 757, our Hawaii expansion and the previously announced MD-80 seat expansion projects are all important to the company and we are excited to see progress on all fronts.  Our Team Members have been working diligently to complete these product additions as well as continue to provide our customers with low cost access to our world class destinations,” concluded Gallagher.

Andrew C. Levy, President of Allegiant Travel Company, stated, “We are very pleased with our revenue performance during the 2^nd quarter.  We produced the highest total fare in our company’s history, driven by increases in the base air fare, and both air-related and third party ancillary revenues.  A 2.6% reduction in capacity was a key factor enabling this strong revenue performance.  We have again proven we can thrive during periods of high fuel price volatility if we are prudent in how we allocate our capacity.

“Strength in revenue has continued as we enter this 3^rd quarter, again aided by a tight capacity plan.  Capacity this quarter will be lower as compared with the 3^rd quarter of 2010 and we again expect to post substantial increases in unit revenues as more fully described in the guidance section later in the release.

“Our current plan for the 4^th quarter shows slight growth in capacity, mostly attributable to having a full quarter flying our first 757 as well as a small contribution from the presence of some re-configured MD-80 aircraft with 166 seats in the operating fleet.

“Finally, we again experienced strong growth in our third party ancillary revenue primarily resulting from greater volume and yield in hotel room sales.  Room nights grew over 12% versus the 2^nd quarter last year, with almost half of the increase generated away from our traditionally strong Las Vegas market.  Growth in the third party segment is a high priority and we continue to make investments in management and technology to further that goal,” concluded Levy.

(a) includes credit card fees and travel agency commissions

Scott Sheldon, SVP and CFO of Allegiant Travel Company, stated, “During the 2^nd quarter, we experienced a 27% increase in unit costs – cost per passenger was $115.24 compared with $90.96 in the 2^nd quarter 2010 - but the results were as projected.  Fuel costs per passenger were 37% higher, and non-fuel per passenger costs were up by 18% or slightly more than $9.

“The increase in non-fuel unit costs was mostly due to reduced fleet utilization and $4.8 million of special items or $3.08 per passenger.  These expenses included 757 pre-operating costs, manual integrations, the retirement of one MD-87 and the write down and impairment charges related to our engine consignment program.  The increase in non-fuel per passenger costs would have been only $3.30 or 6.5% excluding these special items and if fleet utilization had remained unchanged on a year over year basis.

“Apart from fuel, we experienced the most unit cost pressure in the maintenance area due to the execution of our engine overhaul and repair strategy as we have described in the past.  We continue to project expenses between $20 and $25 million in 2011 for the overhaul of 30 to 35 engines, but the majority of these expenditures will occur in the 3^rd and 4^th quarters of this year.

“While our full year 2011 engine operating expense projection remains unchanged, we have increased our projection for total cash outlays.  We now expect to increase our capital expenditures to take advantage of current opportunities in the secondary engine market which will replenish our engine sparing levels and enable us to better manage the timing and costs associated with major engine overhaul events in the future.  Please see the table below for more detailed information on this area.

“Lastly, our unrestricted cash balance (including short term investments) grew slightly during the 2^nd quarter to $317 million, up $11 million from the end of the 1^st quarter.  During the quarter, we repurchased approximately 34,300 shares for $1.6 million and we currently have $44.9 million in remaining board authorized authority,” concluded Sheldon.

At this time, Allegiant Travel Company provides the following guidance to investors, subject to revision.

CASM ex fuel – cost per available seat mile excluding fuel expense

• An operating fleet of 51 MD-80 and one 757 aircraft through the 3^rd quarter of 2011.
• 2011 capital expenditures of approximately $140 million.

Allegiant Travel Company will host a conference call with analysts at 4:30 East Coast time today, August 1^st, 2011, to discuss its 2^nd quarter 2011 financial results. A live broadcast of the conference call will be available via the Company’s Investor Relations website homepage at http://ir.allegiant.com. The webcast will also be archived in the “Events & Presentations” section of the website.

About the Company

Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ: ALGT) is focused on linking travelers in small cities to major leisure destinations such as Las Vegas, Orlando, Fla., Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla., Phoenix-Mesa, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Through its subsidiary, Allegiant Air, the Company operates a low-cost, high-efficiency, all-jet passenger airline offering air travel both on a stand-alone basis and bundled with hotel rooms, rental cars and other travel related services.  ALGT/G

Media Inquiries: Jordan McGee +1-702-589-7260
mediarelations@allegiantair.com
Investor Inquiries: Chris Allen +1-702-851-7365
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Under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are only estimates or predictions based on our management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. Forward-looking statements include our statements regarding future unit revenue, future maintenance expenses, future operating expense, our ability to obtain regulatory approval to operate our 757 aircraft in extended overwater operations, our expected progress on reconfiguration of our MD-80 aircraft, ASM growth, departure growth, fleet growth,  fixed-fee and other revenues and expected capital expenditures, as well as other information concerning future results of operations, business strategies, financing plans, competitive position, industry environment, potential growth opportunities, the effects of future regulation and the effects of competition. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts and can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as the words "believe," "expect," “guidance,” "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate", “project”, “hope”  or similar expressions.

Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Important risk factors that could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements generally may be found in our periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. These risk factors include, without limitation, the effect of the economic downturn on leisure travel, increases in fuel prices, terrorist attacks, risks inherent to airlines, demand for air services to our leisure destinations from the markets served by us, our ability to implement our growth strategy, unionization efforts, our dependence on our leisure destination markets, our ability to add, renew or replace gate leases, our competitive environment, problems with our aircraft, dependence on fixed fee customers, our reliance on our automated systems, economic and other conditions in markets in which we operate, aging aircraft and other governmental regulation, increases in maintenance costs and cyclical and seasonal fluctuations in our operating results.

Any forward-looking statements are based on information available to us today and we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of future events, new information or otherwise.

Detailed financial information follows:

Allegiant Travel Company

Consolidated Statements of Income

Three Months Ended June 30, 2011 and 2010

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

(Unaudited)

(1) The Company's unvested restricted stock awards are considered participating securities as they receive non-forfeitable rights to cash dividends at the same rate as common stock.  The Basic and Diluted earnings per share for the periods presented reflect the two-class method mandated by accounting guidance for the calculation of earnings per share.  The two-class method adjusts both the net income and shares used in the calculation.  Application of the two-class method did not have a significant impact on the Basic and Diluted earnings per share for the periods presented.

Allegiant Travel Company

Operating Statistics

Three Months Ended June 30, 2011 and 2010

(Unaudited)

* except load factor and percent of sales through website, which is percentage point change

Allegiant Travel Company

Consolidated Statements of Income

Six Months Ended June 30, 2011 and 2010

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

(Unaudited)

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