Las Vegas based airline, Allegiant Air has confirmed it will take 18 MD-80 aircraft from SAS, as the Star Alliance carrier seeks to rationalise its fleet.

SAS will retain 24 MD-80s, which will continue to operate from its bases in Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen.

Allegiant operates a purely domestic network with its largest base situated in Las Vegas, where the carrier operates 116 weekly frequencies, and Orlando Sanford, where it operates 40 weekly departures. However the carrier announced in December that it would significantly expand its operations at the Florida Airport, where it has based five MD-80 aircraft.

Allegiant also has large operations at Phoenix Mesa and St Petersburg (Clearwater) with 80 weekly departures from the two airports.