Spirit Airlines to Serve Four New Routes from Late April

Spirit Airlines is launching daily service on four new routes starting April 25, with three of the routes expected to be year-round and the fourth operating until November 6.

The new routes announced by Spirit Airlines include year-round daily round-trips between Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI) and Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS); between Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and Las Vegas; and between Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Spirit Airlines’ main base is at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport, where this Airbus A319 is photographed taxiing out for departure. However, Spirit is building a considerable focus-city presence at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, from where by mid-2013 it expected to be serving at least 26 destinations

Spirit Airlines will also offer seasonal service between Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport (MSP) and Denver International Airport (DEN), through November 6.

“Las Vegas is the second city Spirit has added to its upcoming PHL schedule in the past two weeks alone, and we are excited about Spirit’s arrival in April,” says Philadelphia International Airport CEO Mark Gale.

“Baltimore/Washington and Philadelphia International already rank among our Top 20 feeder airports, combining to send approximately 1,300 travelers per day to Las Vegas in recent weeks,” notes Rosemary Vassiliadis, deputy director of aviation for Clark County, Nevada, which owns and operates Las Vegas McCarran International Airport.

“We’re confident Spirit’s entry will help to grow that number by providing travelers in those areas with more options when selecting their flights to and from Las Vegas,” adds Vassiliadis.

At the Dubai Airshow on November 15, 2011, Airbus and Fort Lauderdale-based Spirit Airlines signed a memorandum of understanding as a preliminary to orders from the U.S. carrier for 45 A320neos and 30 A320s. Spirit, which already had 33 A320s on order from an earlier contract, then agreed to lease five more A320neos, from leasing company ILFC

Spirit’s schedule for the Baltimore/Washington-Las Vegas route will see flight NK695 leave BWI daily at 7:30 p.m. and land at LAS at 9:22 p.m. local time. In the other direction, Spirit’s daily flight NK696 will depart LAS at 11:47 p.m. and reach BWI at 7:20 a.m. the following morning, local time.

On the Philadelphia-Las Vegas route, Spirit Airlines’ flight NK373 will push back from the gate at PHL at 7:45 p.m. daily and reach LAS at 10:13 p.m. local time. In the other direction, flight NK394 will begin taxiing at LAS at 10:40 p.m. daily and touch down at PHL at 6:28 a.m. the following morning, local time.

The airline’s Houston-Los Angeles service will see flight NK217 leave IAH at 9:05 p.m. daily and get to LAX at 10:50 p.m. local time. In the other direction, flight NK216 will depart LAX at 11:40 p.m. and land at IAH at 4:50 a.m. the following morning, local time.

Spirit’s Denver-Minneapolis/St. Paul service calls for flight NK115 to push back from the gate at DEN daily at 10:29 a.m. and reach MSP at 1:25 p.m. local time. In the other direction, flight NK116 is timed to begin taxiing at MSP at 2:05 p.m., in order to arrive at DEN at 3:06 p.m., local time.