In today’s issue: Allegiant and Sun Country report earnings, Air India asks for aid, and Breeze launches new routes

^{Low Cost Earnings}

Both Sun Country and Allegiant posted fairly good Q1 results though both plan to cut scheduled passenger service in Q2

🔵Sun Country reported its 11th consecutive profitable quarter in Q1 ‘25 posting a 17.21% operating margin:

During Q1 ’25, scheduled ASMs grew 6.7% YoY, and total fare per scheduled passenger increased 1% YoY compared to Q1 ’24. These gains though, were partially offset by a 3.9% YoY decline in load factor. While passenger revenue was down YoY, cargo revenue rose in Q1 ’25 by 17.6% despite a 1.1% YoY decline in cargo block hours. The airline also benefited from a 1.6% YoY reduction in CASM during Q1 ‘25. Looking ahead to Q2, Sun Country plans to reduce scheduled ASMs by around 7% YoY to make room for expanded cargo flying.

🔵Allegiant reported it’s Q1 ‘25 results posting an operating margin of 9.3%, up 6.95% from the time period in the previous year:

On a year-over-year basis, Allegiant’s capacity grew by 14.2% in Q1 ’25, while passengers increased by 8.4%. As a result, load factor on scheduled service declined from 83.8% in Q1 ’24 to 80.5% in Q1 ’25. The airline’s average ancillary fare did rise 4.7% YoY though, driven in part by the introduction of a third product bundle offering and an increase in the number of extra legroom seats, among other factors. Looking ahead to Q2, Allegiant plans to reduce scheduled service ASMs by approximately 15.5%.

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^{In The Headlines}

🔵Amid rising tensions with Pakistan, Air India requested government aid after estimating that a year-long closure of Pakistani airspace could cost the airline around $600 million. While this won’t ease the burden for Air India, from a competitive standpoint this won’t hurt as much as it could as most European and North American carriers still can’t use Russian airspace. Meanwhile, India has closed at least 18 airports—mostly in the country’s north—and more than 200 flights have been canceled. IndiGo alone has accounted for 165 of those cancellations. FlightRadar24 has a detailed write up on how the ongoing tensions are impacting flight routes.

🔵Etihad claims that its stopover program—which offers passengers connecting through Abu Dhabi up to two free nights in the city—led to a 76% year-over-year increase in visitors during the first four months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Whether that figure reflects the full picture is anyone’s guess.

🔵Breeze is adding 16 new routes to it’s route network which includes entering the FLL market for the first time.

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🎧️ THINGS I’M LISTENING TO

🔵The Window Seat Podcast interviewed David Neeleman, where they discuss the post-COVID airline market, Breeze Airways’ growth strategy using underserved airports and mid-sized planes, supply chain and air traffic challenges, and Neeleman’s strong criticism of sustainable aviation fuel as an unrealistic climate solution.