It’s been an eventful few months when it comes to U.S. budget carriers’ route networks, shifting capacity to reduce their exposure to plummeting fares in prime leisure markets like Florida, especially in Orlando.
Spirit Airlines is the latest with an update with seven new routes that the carrier confirmed Friday.
The Miramar, Florida-based company’s latest routes focus on a handful of airports: San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) in California, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) in Maryland, Kansas City International Airport (MCI) in Missouri and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).
There was also a notable transcontinental flavor to the new routes, which all launch in June or July.
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Spirit’s new routes
Here’s the full rundown:
| Route | Launches | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| SJC-Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) | June 5 | Daily |
| SJC-Portland International Airport (PDX) | June 5 | Daily |
| BWI-SJC | June 5 | Four weekly round trips |
| BWI-Sacramento International Airport (SMF) | June 6 | Three weekly round trips |
| EWR-Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) | July 10 | Daily |
| EWR-MCI | July 10 | Daily |
| Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)-MCI | July 10 | Daily |
Scaling up in several cities
Many of the airports included in Friday’s route announcement are places where the carrier has put a clear emphasis amid recent months’ network adjustments.
Take Portland International Airport (PDX) in Oregon, for instance, which will get a new Spirit route from San Jose. This summer (in June, July and August) Spirit is set to grow its scheduled seats out of Porland by a whopping 153% over that same period in 2023, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
It’s also set to grow seats by more than 50% this summer out of Kansas City, which got two new routes Friday — and by 44% out of San Jose, which gained the most capacity (three new routes) Friday.
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In a statement Friday, San Jose’s city manager, Jennifer Maguire, noted these three new Spirit routes the airport is getting this summer help the airport in its goal of “flying simple by offering more affordable direct flights.”
Ironically, for its part, Spirit has said it hopes to do more flying that offers travelers flight connections as part of what the airline hopes will be a business turnaround.
BWI transcontinental focus
Also noteworthy in this latest route announcement: two new transcontinental flights from BWI — to San Jose and Sacramento International Airport (SMF). BWI is the point of origin for a fast-growing list of transcontinental options on Spirit.
The airline previously announced cross-country flights from BWI to Portland and San Diego International Airport (SAN). And Spirit’s seats from BWI to the West Coast will be up 140% this summer over last year.
An airline spokesperson could not immediately comment on what, if any, routes the carrier is eliminating in unveiling these seven new routes. However, it’s likely there’s some give-and-take, since the carrier has been fleet constrained in recent months — a challenge that led Spirit to temporarily postpone its plans to fly to the brand-new airport in Tulum, Mexico.
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