Allegiant resuming Los Angeles flights from Eastern Iowa Airport

Allegiant Air on Thursday will resume seasonal non-stop service between Cedar Rapids and Los Angeles.

The Las Vegas-based airline originally planned to resume service Wednesday with an outbound flight at 1:57 p.m., but had to reschedule the departure to 10 a.m. Thursday due to crew availability.

Kim Schaefer, Allegiant public relations manager, said passengers were provided with meal vouchers and hotel accommodations.

'Passengers who choose not to fly on the rescheduled flight can change their reservation to another flight in our system or receive a refund of the airfare portion of their itinerary,” Schaefer said in an emailed statement. 'All passengers also have been provided with $100 off vouchers for future travel.”

Allegiant will offer two weekly flights to Los Angeles through the summer from The Eastern Iowa Airport. The flights on 156-seat Airbus A-319 aircraft are scheduled for Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.

Pam Hinman, airport communications and marketing director, said Allegiant has indicated that advance bookings are higher than they were in 2015.

Allegiant offered similar service the last two summers that ended in August. The Eastern Iowa Airport is the only airport in Eastern Iowa and the border regions of Wisconsin and Illinois that offers non-stop LAX service.

Allegiant has declined to offer the Los Angeles flights throughout the year, saying the market has been very seasonal for the ultralow cost carrier. The airline has said it must balance the cost of gate and landing fees at Los Angeles International Airport with the revenue from travelers using the air service.

Eastern Iowans using the seasonal flights to Los Angeles live primarily in urban areas, while those flying Allegiant to Las Vegas, Orlando Sanford, Phoenix-Mesa, St. Petersburg/Tampa and Punta Gorda/Fort Myers come more broadly from urban and rural areas.

The $60 million remodeling of the airport passenger terminal includes an expansion of the B concourse planned for 2017. It will add two permanent boarding bridges, which also will relieve congestion on the C concourse.