Image credit: Raymond Wambsgans via Wikimedia Commons / Flickr. License: CC BY 2.0.
Allegiant Travel Company said on Sept. 1, 2026, that it will add two year-round nonstop routes from Flint Bishop International Airport. Orlando International Airport service is scheduled to begin Feb. 10, 2027, and Southwest Florida International Airport service in Fort Myers is scheduled to begin Feb. 11, 2027.
Tickets are on sale now at Allegiant.com, with limited introductory one-way fares as low as $69 on those new pairs if purchased by Sept. 2, 2026. The same release also adds extra weekly flights from Flint to Sarasota and St. Pete-Clearwater from those February dates.
- New routes: Flint to Orlando International from Feb. 10, 2027, and Flint to Fort Myers from Feb. 11, 2027.
- Sale clock: Limited $69 one-way intro fares on the new pairs if purchased by Sept. 2, 2026.
- Extra days: More Flint flights to Sarasota and St. Pete-Clearwater begin in February 2027.
- Who is affected: Mid-Michigan travelers who now use Sanford or Punta Gorda for those Florida trips.
- Booking: Tickets for the newly announced routes are available now on Allegiant.com.
What Allegiant actually added from Flint
According to the Sept. 1 Allegiant release on PR Newswire, the new year-round pairs are Flint Bishop (FNT) to Orlando International (MCO) and Flint Bishop to Southwest Florida International (RSW). Both are framed as late-winter 2027 launches, not as a short spring-break experiment.
Drew Wells, Allegiant’s chief commercial officer, said the company is expanding Michigan-Florida flying and pairing the new routes with added frequencies in several markets. Nino Sapone, chief executive officer of Flint Bishop International Airport, called the move an investment in an Allegiant crew base and said year-round Orlando and Fort Myers service gives passengers more Florida choices.
This batch is also separate from Allegiant’s Aug. 17 package of nine Florida routes, which centered on Cincinnati to Orlando International plus New England spring windows. Deep Arrival covered that earlier set in Allegiant Adds Nine Florida Routes for Spring 2027.
Why Orlando International and Fort Myers change the ground game
The useful change is the airport, not a generic Florida slogan. Flint Bishop’s current Allegiant page still lists Orlando/Sanford and Fort Myers/Punta Gorda among existing nonstops, along with Sarasota, St. Pete-Clearwater, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, and Destin.
Sanford sits north of the theme-park belt, while Orlando International sits much closer to Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and the hotel spine most first-time visitors use. Travelers comparing those arrivals can start with Deep Arrival’s Orlando things to do guide and then price the transfer, not only the airfare.
The Fort Myers shift follows the same logic. Punta Gorda Airport is an Allegiant-heavy field well north of the beaches most people mean when they say Fort Myers, while Southwest Florida International is the main field for Sanibel, Captiva, Fort Myers Beach, and Naples.
Deep Arrival’s Fort Myers Airport to Sanibel Island guide is built around that RSW transfer, not a Punta Gorda arrival. If your hotel or beach rental is written around MCO or RSW, the new nonstops can erase a shuttle or a long extra drive.
None of this makes Sanford or Punta Gorda worse overnight. It means Mid-Michigan now has a published path onto the two primary commercial runways that most rental-car and hotel packages already assume. Keep the older fields if your plans are already built around them.
The Sept. 2 purchase window is the near-term decision
The release is explicit about the introductory fare rules for the two new pairs. FNT-MCO and FNT-RSW both show one-way fares as low as $69 when purchased by Sept. 2, 2026.
Seats and dates are limited, and the airline says those fares are not available on all flights. Displayed prices include taxes, carrier charges, and government fees, while optional baggage charges and other restrictions may still apply.
That is a classic Allegiant structure: a cheap seat that is not automatically a cheap trip once bags, seats, and changes are added. Sept. 2 is the purchase deadline, not the travel date, because the flights themselves do not start until February 2027.
Do not assume the extra Sarasota and St. Pete-Clearwater frequencies are part of the $69 offer. The release attaches that introductory fare language to the two new year-round routes. Check each itinerary on Allegiant.com before treating every Flint-Florida date as a sale seat.
Extra Sarasota and St. Pete-Clearwater flights are a calendar change
Allegiant is also adding frequency, not just new airports. Flint to Sarasota Bradenton is listed with weekly Wednesday, Friday, and Monday service beginning Feb. 10, 2027. Flint to St. Pete-Clearwater is listed with weekly Thursday, Sunday, and Tuesday service beginning Feb. 11, 2027.
Those named weekdays are more schedule detail than the airline gave for brand-new MCO and RSW service. Travelers who already use SRQ for the Gulf Coast or PIE for Tampa Bay can plan around a three-day weekly pattern in late winter 2027.
The release does not say whether those extra days replace existing frequencies or sit on top of them. Until Allegiant.com shows the full February 2027 grid, treat the named weekdays as the confirmed new pattern and verify whether current days survive into the same season.
What the airline has not published yet
The official text tells travelers to find flight days, times, and the lowest fares at Allegiant.com. It does not publish a weekly frequency for the new FNT-MCO or FNT-RSW routes, and it does not name aircraft type or departure banks.
It also does not say whether Flint’s existing Sanford and Punta Gorda nonstops will keep their current calendars after the primary-airport routes start. Bishop’s public Allegiant destination list still showed Sanford and Punta Gorda at announcement time, which is the current network, not a future-year timetable.
That gap is why this is a booking story with a caveat, not a full schedule rewrite. Confirm the live February 2027 search grid, including the exact weekday pattern on MCO and RSW, before you cancel a Sanford hotel or a Punta Gorda rental car.
Deep Arrival’s Allegiant Air guide remains the place to check bag rules, seat fees, and the carrier’s unbundled math before you treat a $69 screenshot as the trip cost.
| If you… | What to do |
|---|---|
| Want Disney or Universal with less transfer time | Price Flint to Orlando International from Feb. 10, 2027, not only Sanford. |
| Are bound for Sanibel, Fort Myers Beach, or Naples | Price Flint to Southwest Florida International from Feb. 11, 2027, not only Punta Gorda. |
| Want the published $69 one-way intro fare | Buy the new MCO or RSW pair by Sept. 2, 2026, and add bags before you click pay. |
| Already rely on Sarasota or St. Pete-Clearwater | Use the named 2027 weekdays, then confirm whether older days remain. |
| Have hotels or cars written around Sanford or Punta Gorda | Keep those flights unless the live grid shows a cut you cannot accept. |
The matrix is a routing choice, not a promise that every February date will stay at $69. Introductory inventory can disappear while the underlying route remains on sale at a higher fare. Recheck the same city pair after the Sept. 2 cutover if you missed the first window.
Also recheck baggage and seat prices on the same screen as the fare. Allegiant’s model prices the seat first and the rest of the cabin second, which is why a headline fare can double after a standard suitcase and a chosen seat are added.
- Buy-by date: Sept. 2, 2026, for the published $69 one-way intro fares on FNT-MCO and FNT-RSW.
- Travel dates: New year-round flying starts Feb. 10, 2027, to Orlando International and Feb. 11, 2027, to Fort Myers.
- Airport match: Choose MCO or RSW when your hotel and ground plan already assume those primary fields.
- Existing flights: Sanford and Punta Gorda remain on Bishop’s current Allegiant list unless a later schedule cut says otherwise.
- Unbundled cost: Add bags, seats, and change rules before you treat the intro fare as the trip total.
For Mid-Michigan households, the durable fact is year-round access to Orlando International and Fort Myers’ main airport, not a one-day fare graphic. Use the Sept. 2 window if the $69 inventory is still there, then keep the February 2027 calendar even if that first price is gone.
When do Allegiant Flint flights to Orlando and Fort Myers start?
Flint to Orlando International begins Feb. 10, 2027, and Flint to Southwest Florida International in Fort Myers begins Feb. 11, 2027. Both are described as year-round routes in the Sept. 1, 2026, release.
How long do the $69 Allegiant Flint fares last?
Introductory one-way fares as low as $69 on FNT-MCO and FNT-RSW are available when purchased by Sept. 2, 2026. Seats and dates are limited, and those fares are not available on all flights.
Does this replace Allegiant flights from Flint to Sanford or Punta Gorda?
The announcement does not cancel those existing routes. Flint Bishop’s public Allegiant destination list still showed Orlando/Sanford and Fort Myers/Punta Gorda when the new MCO and RSW routes were published.
Are the extra Sarasota and St. Pete-Clearwater flights year-round too?
The release lists extra weekly frequencies beginning Feb. 10 and Feb. 11, 2027, with named days of week. It does not attach the $69 intro-fare language to those added SRQ and PIE flights.
