Allegiant Air would pay an estimated $22.8 million to operate at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport over the next five years under a new agreement with Pinellas County, bringing the airport $8.6 million more than under the previous deal.
Representing a 60.6% increase from the roughly $14.2 million value of Allegiant’s prior agreement, the new revenue would come from a combination of higher rates and continued airport use, leaving the final amount dependent on how much Allegiant flies from PIE through Sept. 30, 2031.
Every Allegiant arrival would come with a landing fee based on the aircraft’s maximum landing weight, starting at $1.43 per 1,000 pounds in fiscal 2027 and rising each year to $1.48 in fiscal 2031, while each turn through PIE would carry another charge for the terminal, baggage systems, gates, ramps, boarding bridges and other shared infrastructure needed to bring a plane in, unload it, reload it and send it back out.
With PIE discounting the standard per-turn rate by 4% for airlines with 3,001 to 6,000 annual departures and by 7% above 6,000, the more an airline flies, the less it pays for each turn, even as the underlying rates rise 3% annually after fiscal 2027; in the first year, an airline with 3,000 departures or fewer would pay $250.57 per turn, compared with $223.71 above 6,000.
Inside the terminal, Allegiant would also lease 3,697 square feet of exclusive space, including three offices and baggage-claim storage, at $24.26 per square foot, bringing annual rent to $89,689.22, or $7,474.10 per month, while much of the rest of its operation would continue through common-use facilities controlled by PIE.
Those landing, turn and rental charges form the new pricing structure, with the Office of Management and Budget saying the higher airline fees are needed to balance PIE’s operating fund and meet growing Capital Improvement Program needs through fiscal 2031.
Not yet included in PIE’s proposed fiscal 2027 budget, however, is the additional revenue from the new agreement, with the current plan carrying $3.39 million in airline service-charge revenue, calculated at 95% under state requirements, and OMB planning to update the airport’s revenue and user-fee projections before budget adoption if county commissioners approve the contract.
Along with access to the airport’s operating infrastructure, Allegiant would continue using gates as common-use facilities rather than controlling them exclusively, with PIE assigning those gates according to factors including international arrivals, aircraft size, overlapping flights, airline preference, market share and overnight parking.
Running through September 2031 on paper, the five-year agreement would carry considerably more flexibility in practice, with both Allegiant and Pinellas County able to terminate without cause on 90 days’ written notice and the county holding additional termination rights, including if Allegiant stops scheduled passenger departures from PIE for at least 60 days outside of a strike or circumstances beyond its control.
Beyond pricing the service Allegiant already operates, the agreement would preserve PIE’s ability to give up some of those charges when Allegiant or another carrier brings the airport something new, allowing qualifying routes to receive two years of waived landing fees, terminal rent and other airport charges along with as much as $150,000 per city pair for marketing in the first year and $100,000 in the second.
With an initial annual budget of $500,000, the incentive program is intended for service that adds a destination not already served from PIE, while the policy says a route simply shifted from Tampa International Airport because an airline moved its operations would not receive the incentive.
Behind the Sept. 30 deadline is an operating relationship dating to Jan. 28, 2020, with Pinellas County and Allegiant extending the previous agreement through fiscal 2026 so the airline could continue operating under established rates after expiration, but only until Sept. 30, 2026.