Spirit will soon serve more cities in Colombia than any U.S. airline
Spirit Airlines will add two more cities in Colombia to its route map in April, giving it the most destinations in the South American country of any U.S. carrier.
The South Florida-based discounter will add service between its Fort Lauderdale (FLL) base and Barranquilla (BAQ) on April 23, and Bucaramanga (BGA) on April 22, Spirit said Tuesday. Both routes will operate thrice-weekly on Airbus A320 family aircraft.
With the additions Spirit will serve seven cities in Colombia: Armenia (AXM), Barranquilla, Bogota (BOG), Bucaramanga, Cali (CLO), Cartagena (CTG), and Medellin (MDE). By comparison, American Airlines serves six cities in the country, and JetBlue Airways three cities, according to Cirium schedules.
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"We are very proud of our service growth to Colombia," said Spirit CEO Ted Christie in a statement. He added that the airline is "excited" to add the two new cities.
Spirit plans to grow capacity by 17-19% year-over-year in 2020 with the arrival of at least 21 new Airbus A320neos.
In addition to the rapid growth, Spirit is upgrading its onboard experience with a new cabin and seats. The airline also hopes to begin offering inflight Wi-Fi, and roll out an updated loyalty program this year.
Related: Check out Spirit Airlines’ first jet with its new seats and cabin
Spirit serves Colombia from its Fort Lauderdale and Orlando (MCO) bases, the latter opened in October 2018.
Spirit faces no direct competition on either the Fort Lauderdale-Barranquilla or Fort Lauderdale-Bucaramanga routes. However, American and Avianca fly between nearby Miami (MIA) and Barranquilla, Cirium schedules show. No airlines offer flights between the U.S. and Bucaramanga, which sits in an interior region of northern Colombia.
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