COLUMBIA, S.C. — Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) will soon be getting a budget friendly option for travelers heading to Florida, as Allegiant Air is bringing its low-cost routes to the Capital City starting in May.
The new service from Columbia Metro to two Florida destinations will start in May 2025.
The announcement is part of the company’s largest expansion in history, which includes 44 new nonstop routes nationwide and the addition of three cities to its network: Columbia, Gulf Shores, Alabama, and Colorado Springs, Colorado.
"When we hear over and over again, want a low cost carrier, we're so excited that we're able to finally deliver that," said Kim Crafton, CAE’s VP of Marketing and Air Service Development.
Flights from CAE will connect travelers to the Daytona Beach/Sanford via Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB) starting May 15, 2025 and Fort Lauderdale/Miami via Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) starting May 22, 2025. Fares for the new routes start as low as $39 for SFB and $49 for FLL one-way.
Passengers say they're more likely to fly out of Columbia, rather than travel to another airport like Charlotte, if there are more affordable options available.
Right now, the airport only offers United, American, and Delta flights.
"I was looking at changing a flight to try to get out of here and it was $1300 to get out," said traveler Matt Tripicchio. "I’d rather sit around for the flight that is a quarter of that price."
The Columbia airport doesn't have a budget airline right now, and doesn't offer any year-round routes to Florida. While Crafton says they do offer seasonal service to Miami, having the new nonstop, affordable option will be perfect for long-weekend trips. She says it lends itself to the increase of leisure travel they're seeing at the airport.
"I think that the alignment and the timing of having Allegiant coming in right now, with this surge of leisure travel, business travel, we're really excited that these are the destinations that they have selected for this region because they're seeing that this community is ready to travel and will travel," Crafton said. "They have an opportunity to fly locally, support locally, and keep those dollars right here in."
The airport is set to surpass their numbers from 2019, which were the largest they'd seen in the last decade, according to Crafton. They are on track to serve 1.4 million passengers by the end of the year.