Gulf Coast airport to begin passenger service to 6 cities, with tickets as low as $49

Starting in May 2025, the Gulf Shores International Airport on the Alabama coast will offer commercial air service for the first time ever in history.

The low-cost airline Allegiant Airlines will launch six new routes from the Gulf Shores airport (JKA) with one-way fares for as low as $49, according to a press release. The first passenger flight will head to Knoxville, Tennessee, on May 21, 2025. In the following days, the airport will begin direct flights to three additional major cities — Houston, Kansas City and Cincinnati — as well as northwest Arkansas and Belleville, Illinois.

An employee at the airport was unable to confirm Monday morning if flights to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport would eventually be offered.

JKA served as a general aviation airport for over 80 years, according to its website, before announcing that passenger flights would soon be available.

“These nonstop routes will also make traveling to Alabama’s beaches easier than ever, allowing visitors to enjoy our local shops, restaurants, and everything our area has to offer more frequently,” Gulf Shores mayor Robert Craft said in the press release.

Over the years, summers at Alabama’s beaches have become busier than ever as visitors travel from across the southern United States, causing miles of traffic congestion along I-10. Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Fort Morgan attracted 6.5 million visitors in 2023.

The City of Gulf Shores wrote on its Facebook account that the two-gate terminal at the airport will be 17,000 square feet, allowing space for 40,000 to 60,000 passengers.