This Ultra-Low-Cost Carrier Has New Routes to the US
If you are a penny-pinching traveler, you now have a new budget option to fly in the US.
Swoop, the new ultra-low-cost carrier from Canada, announced its first destinations in the American market on Thursday. The airline is planning seven new routes in the US to five different airports beginning this fall.
As of October 11, Swoop will serve Las Vegas (LAS), and by the end of October, it will operate routes from Canada to Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Orlando (MCO), Phoenix-Mesa (AZA) and Tampa (TPA).
The new routes are as follows:
Las Vegas-Abbotsford, British Columbia: 3 flights a week (Monday, Thursday, Sunday) beginning Oct. 11
Las Vegas-Hamilton, Ontario: 4 flights a week (Monday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday) beginning Oct. 26
Las Vegas-Edmonton: 11 flights a week (daily) beginning Oct. 11
Phoenix/Mesa, Arizona-Edmonton: 2 flights a week (Wednesday, Saturday) beginning Oct. 27
Fort Lauderdale-Hamilton, Ontario: 2 flights a week (Friday, Saturday) beginning Oct. 26
Orlando-Hamilton, Ontario: 3 flights a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday) beginning Oct. 17
Tampa-Hamilton, Ontario: 3 flights a week (Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday) beginning Oct. 20
Frontier, Allegiant and Spirit Airlines currently corner the ultra-low-cost market in the US. The ULCC model offers super low base fares, but charges for everything else, from seat selection to water and overhead bin space. But Swoop sees more potential to grow the bare-bones model in America — a model that has been growing in popularity and one that mainstream carriers have been emulating with the explosion of basic economy.
"Swoop's success in the Canadian ULCC space combined with the evident success of ULCCs in the U.S. affirms that North American travelers are ready for an airline to open up the border to ultra-low-cost air travel," Steven Greenway, Swoop's president, says in a statement.
If you've never heard of Swoop, that wouldn't be a surprise. It just started flying in June and is a subsidiary of low-cost carrier, and Canada's second largest airline, WestJet. Swoop serves five Canadian destinations (Abbotsford, Edmonton, Halifax, Hamilton and Winnipeg), and flies a fleet of six Boeing 737s. As it expands its route network, the carrier will add three more of the narrow-bodies by October, with four more coming by 2019.
Swoop has alluded to the fact that when it gets its fleet up to 10 aircraft, it could possibly further expand into the US or Caribbean.
H/T: USA Today