Spirit Airlines plans a 40% increase in its
flights out of its Fort Lauderdale gateway by this summer.
With the additional
flights, the carrier will operate more than 70 flights per day, an
increase of 20 more daily flights compared to July 2007. Under the
expansion initiative, Spirit will offer 10 new routes and also will
add frequencies in existing markets.
While the new routes
have not been revealed yet, details are expected over the next few
weeks. By year's end, Spirit's routes will grow to 44 destinations
from Fort Lauderdale, 28 of which will be to the Caribbean and
Latin America.
"We are excited about
our position as not only the lowest cost carrier in South Florida,
but also the largest in Fort Lauderdale," said Barry Biffle,
Spirit's senior vice president and chief marketing officer. "Our
low costs are fueling our growth, which in turn is fueling the
South Florida economy by adding over 400 jobs, generating over
2,000 more passengers to Fort Lauderdale per day, and creating
millions of dollars in economic value for our local
tourism."
The additional
frequencies will be made possible by increasing usage of off-peak
times at Spirit's Terminal 4 at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport .
To support this growth, Spirit also expects to add more than 400
additional jobs in South Florida, including airport staff, flight
crews and other support positions.
"Bottom line -- we
will grow Fort Lauderdale until we're blue in the face," said
Biffle.
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Nagle Myers at [email protected].