Raising the Spirit of the US Domestic Market

US low-fare carrier Spirit Airlines is to continue its dramatic expansion at Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International with the addition of five more domestic points during the Northern Winter 2012/2013 schedule and plans to introduce another international link to Mexico, increasing its network to 26 destinations.

The latest route growth from the fast-growing independent airline will begin in November 2012 with additional services coming online through the winter schedule. The first new destination will be Fort Myers Southwest Florida International which will be served on a three times weekly seasonal basis between November 8, 2012 and April 24, 2013. A daily link to New Orleans International will start on January 24, 2013, with a second daily rotation starting June 13, 2013, while a four times weekly service to Minneapolis-St Paul International begins on April 26, 2013, increasing to daily on June 13, 2013.

From the same date Spirit will also offer a four times weekly flight between DFW and Philadelphia International, again increasing to daily from June 13, 2013, while a three times weekly connection to Latrobe's Arnold Palmer Regional Airport near Pittsburgh will begin on June 14, 2013. Spirit has filed with the US Department of Transportation to begin non-stop service between DFW and Los Cabos, Mexico, serving Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo.

"We are committed to saving our customers money on travel by offering them the lowest fares," said Barry Biffle, Chief Marketing Officer, Spirit Airlines and a Texas native. "Now travelers from throughout the Metroplex have easy access to Spirit's ultra low fares to 26 non-stop destinations from DFW."

Spirit introduced its ultra low-fares at DFW just over a year ago in May 2011 and has continued to grow its operations there ever since. It currently offers non-stop service to 15 destinations from DFW, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, New York-LaGuardia, Orlando, Phoenix/Mesa, San Diego, Tampa, Toluca/Mexico City, and Portland, Oregon. In addition to this latest growth, earlier this month Spirit announced it is adding non-stop service to Baltimore/Washington, Houston, Oakland/San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the airline has also filed for approval to serve Cancun, Mexico.

The growth is not just restricted to DFW as Spirit has plans to expand its offering across the US. Alongside its planned link to Los Cabos from DFW it has applied to the US Department of Transportation to also serve the destination from San Diego, while a daily seasonal service between Phoenix-Mesa Gateway and Chicago's O'Hare International will operate between November 8, 2012 and April 24, 2013.

There will also be a notable expansion in Florida to meet growing demand for its low-fare air services. A daily seasonal link between Tampa International and Chicago's O'Hare International starts November 8, 2012 and runs through April 24, 2013, while network expansion from Fort Myers Southwest Florida International will mean Spirit will double its network from the airport. Alongside the already mentioned DFW link, Spirit will offer daily seasonal services to Boston's Logan International and Minneapolis-St Paul International during the Northern Winter 2012/2013 schedules.

There will also be a third new route from Minneapolis-St Paul International alongside the DFW and Fort Myers connections, a daily offering to Fort Lauderdale between November 8, 2012 and April 24, 2013. It is just two months since Spirit inaugurated flights from Minneapolis-St Paul International and it currently offers flights to Chicago O’Hare International and Las Vegas McCarran International.

"I am very pleased that Spirit has already decided to expand its presence at Minneapolis-St. Paul International, less than two months after launching its inaugural service to this airport from Chicago and Las Vegas," said Jeff Hamiel, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Metropolitan Airports Commission. "The addition of these three cities to Spirit's route schedule is important not only because it provides low-cost, non-stop service to three popular warm-weather destinations, but also because it provides one-stop service to much of Spirit's domestic and international route network. The new service essentially adds more low-cost options for flying between Minneapolis-St. Paul and destinations throughout the Americas."

The table below highlights the Spirit Airlines network this month and its key target cities, highlighting which markets are seeing the strongest growth in capacity compared with the same month last year. Overall capacity is up almost a quarter at 23.7 per cent with the main growth markets being DFW and Chicago O’Hare International.