Spirit Airlines lands in Savannah, Georgia, adds new city in postbankruptcy expansion

Spirit Airlines will land in Savannah this summer, making the Georgia city its first new destination since emerging from bankruptcy in March.

The ultra-low-cost carrier will offer a daily nonstop flight to Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) beginning Aug. 14, Spirit said in a statement April 8. Additionally, starting in October, Spirit will add three more nonstops from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and Nashville International Airport (BNA).

Introductory airfares to Savannah start as low as $59 one-way on the airline's website.

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"We look forward to welcoming our Savannah guests onboard soon and offering them new, elevated travel options with unmatched value to visit exciting destinations across the East Coast and Midwest," John Kirby, vice president of network planning at Spirit, said in a statement.

Savannah is Spirit's third new destination this year after adding Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA) in Tennessee and Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) in South Carolina in June. It is the first new market unveiled since it exited its Chapter 11 restructuring in mid-March.

The city also represents a shift in strategy for Spirit. The airline is focused on adding smaller cities like Columbia and Savannah, with flights to key markets limited to peak days of the week, such as Fridays and Sundays. This differs from its past strategy that favored landing in midsize or even large cities and offering numerous routes with one or two daily flights at rock-bottom fares.

One airline industry adviser described Spirit's new strategy as "Allegiant light." A fellow ultra-low-cost carrier, Allegiant Air is known for only offering flights on peak days of the week and once proudly proclaimed that it had no flights at all on Tuesdays, one of the slowest travel days of the week.

While the Newark flight to Savannah will depart daily, Spirit will only serve Detroit, Fort Lauderdale and Nashville a few days a week.

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The carrier will compete with Allegiant from Savannah to Fort Lauderdale, Delta Air Lines to Detroit, Southwest Airlines to Nashville and United Airlines to Newark, according to Cirium data.

Spirit is set to shrink seats by over a quarter this year compared to 2024 after shedding planes during bankruptcy, the latest schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows. The data does not include the new Savannah flights and is subject to change, especially more than 90 days out.

The budget airline also faces growth constraints due to ongoing issues with the Pratt & Whitney engines on its Airbus A320neo family of planes. At the end of last year, Spirit had around 41 aircraft parked and awaiting inspections, preventing those aircraft from flying revenue-generating flights.

Below are details of Spirit's new Savannah flights:

• Newark: one daily flight beginning Aug. 14
• Fort Lauderdale: four weekly flights on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays beginning Oct. 9
• Nashville: three weekly flights on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays beginning Oct. 9
• Detroit: two weekly flights on Mondays and Fridays beginning Oct. 10

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