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Fast-growing Spirit expands in Las Vegas, adds 3 new cities in 2 new states

Ethan Klapper
Articles
Ethan Klapper is a former senior aviation reporter at TPG who focused on the operational side of the airline industry.
March 16, 2022
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3 min read
A Spirit Airlines aircraft takes off at La Guardia Airport
Fast-growing Spirit expands in Las Vegas, adds 3 new cities in 2 new states
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Spirit Airlines is coming to three new airports this summer.

Travelers in Albuquerque, New Mexico (ABQ), Boise (BOI) and Reno (RNO) will soon have service aboard Spirit's yellow Airbuses to Las Vegas' Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), where Spirit is the airport's second-largest carrier.

Daily service to Albuquerque starts Aug. 3, with Boise's daily flights starting on Aug. 5 and the twice-daily intrastate hop to Reno starting on Aug. 10.

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“Announcing three new markets is an exciting milestone for Spirit Airlines and our Guests as we deliver more high-value options for travel between the bright lights of Vegas and the huge variety of beautiful places to visit in New Mexico, Idaho and Northern Nevada,” John Kirby, Spirit's VP of Network Planning, said in a statement. “We can’t wait to welcome these new communities into our network and continue to provide More Go for our Guests as we celebrate our 20th year serving LAS.”

(Map courtesy of Spirit Airlines)

Spirit will face significant competition on all three new routes — particularly from Southwest Airlines, Las Vegas' largest carrier.

More: Spirit Airlines kicks off 2022 with 3 routes to a brand-new US city

For its new Albuquerque route, Spirit's first-ever service to New Mexico will go up against ultra-low-cost competitor Allegiant Air, which is based in Las Vegas, and Southwest.

For its route to Idaho's capital of Boise, another entirely new state for the airline, Spirit will compete head-to-head against a new daily flight offered by Alaska Airlines, as well as Allegiant and Southwest.

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And on the hop to Reno, Spirit will compete (for now) against its merger partner Frontier Airlines, as well as Allegiant and Southwest, which has scheduled as many as nine roundtrips a day between the two cities in August, according to Cirium schedule data.

More: Frontier, Spirit announce blockbuster merger that would create giant ultra-low-cost airline

Spirit, based in Miramar, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale, has a stronger network in the eastern portion of the country but has recently focused on expanding its network in the west. It launches service to Salt Lake City (SLC) on May 26 — competing against Delta Air Lines on multiple routes from a key hub.

With airlines reporting heavy leisure demand headed into the summer travel season and Las Vegas being a heavy leisure destination, these routes have the potential to be strong performers for Spirit, despite all the competition.

Featured image by SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett
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