March 16, 2026
— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
Allegiant Travel and Sun Country Airlines said today that a regulatory review of their proposed combination is done, a step toward completing the acquisition.
Allegiant said in January that it would acquire Sun Country for about $1.5 billion, combining two low-price airlines that take passengers to resort destinations.
Today’s announcement was about the end of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. That federal regulation is designed to prevent business combinations that would limit competition and potentially hurt consumers.
Regulatory review is not done. The deal needs approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the approval of the shareholders of Allegiant and Sun Country. The transaction is now expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2026, Allegiant said today.
Las Vegas-based Allegiant carries Lehigh Valley residents to the Sunbelt, Nashville and in season, Denver, from Lehigh Valley International Airport.
Las Vegas-based Allegiant (NASDAQ:ALGT) will pay 0.1557 Allegiant share and $4.10 in cash for each Sun Country share.
Sun Country (NASDAQ:SNCY) is based in Minneapolis.
Allegiant said in a press release earlier that the combined airline will serve about 175 cities with more than 650 routes and 195 aircraft.
Here’s the statement from Allegiant in cut-and-paste format, and omitting boilerplate language at the end:
Allegiant and Sun Country Announce Early Termination of Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Waiting Period for Allegiant’s Proposed Acquisition of Sun Country
03/16/2026
LAS VEGAS and MINNEAPOLIS, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ: ALGT) (“Allegiant”) and Sun Country Airlines (NASDAQ: SNCY) (“Sun Country”) today announced the early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 in connection with Allegiant’s previously announced proposed acquisition of Sun Country. Receiving U.S. antitrust clearance is an important step toward completing the combination of the two airlines.
The proposed transaction remains subject to other customary closing conditions, including approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) of an interim exemption application and the approval of the shareholders of each of Allegiant and Sun Country. The transaction is now expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2026.
“We are pleased to receive U.S. antitrust clearance from the Department of Justice,” said Allegiant CEO Greg Anderson. “We remain confident that this combination will deliver meaningful benefits for our customers, team members and the communities we serve. Together, Allegiant and Sun Country will create a stronger leisure-focused airline, offering a broader network, more travel options and increase long-term value creation for our shareholders.”
Allegiant – Together We Fly™
Las Vegas-based Allegiant is an integrated travel company with an airline at its heart, focused on connecting customers with the people, places and experiences that matter most. Since 1999, Allegiant Air has linked travelers in small-to-medium cities to world-class vacation destinations with all-nonstop flights and industry-low average fares. Today, Allegiant’s fleet serves communities across the nation, with base airfares less than half the cost of the average domestic roundtrip ticket. For more information, visit us at Allegiant.com. Media information, including photos, is available at http://gofly.us/iiFa303wrtF
About Sun Country
Sun Country Airlines is a new breed of hybrid low-cost air carrier, whose mission is to connect guests to their favorite people and places to create lifelong memories and transformative experiences. Sun Country dynamically and synergistically deploys shared resources for our passenger service, including scheduled service and charter, and cargo service segments. Based in Minnesota, we focus on serving leisure and visiting friends and relatives (“VFR”) passengers and charter customers and providing cargo service to Amazon, with flights throughout the United States and to destinations in Mexico, Central America, Canada, and the Caribbean. For photos, b-roll and additional company information, visit https://www.stories.suncountry.com/multimedia
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