Spirit Airlines will head back to Latin America from Orlando just in time for the holidays. The Florida-based carrier is re-launching six nonstop international routes.
Spirit plans to reintroduce Latin American destinations from Orlando International Airport (MCO) gradually throughout the month of December, beginning with service to Colombia and Honduras. Within weeks, the airline will add Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador along with additional Colombian flights.
In the Caribbean, people travelling to Puerto Rico will have more options at the beginning of 2021. Spirit plans to reactivate its service to Aguadilla (BQN) once the airport re-opens in January. Daily flights to the island’s northwestern tip will complement Spirit’s existing service to San Juan (SJU), which runs up to five times each day.
Spirit carried 2.6 million Guests at MCO in 2019. The airline reactivated most of its domestic network from the airport in July as the demand for air travel began to rebound. Resuming international service at MCO bumps up Spirit’s operation at the airport to 38 nonstop destinations throughout the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. The airline will offer Guests an average of 53 flights each day during the December travel period. That’s a ten-fold increase compared to the five flights available each day when demand for air travel was at its lowest in 2020.
Spirit started serving MCO in 1993 and grew into one of Central Florida’s major job providers. The airline employs nearly 1,200 people in the Orlando area directly, and its operations support another 500 contractors in the region.
In other news, the airline is also adding two new cities officially joining its route map. The carrier’s signature yellow planes brought some extra sunshine when they launched service to Bucaramanga (BGA) on November 18 and Barranquilla (BAQ) on November 19. Both routes run nonstop from the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL).
Spirit’s service to Bucaramanga is the only nonstop flight connecting Colombia’s Santander region with the United States. Adding Bucaramanga and Barranquilla to Spirit’s network means the airline serves more Colombian cities nonstop than any other U.S. carrier.
Source: worldairlinenews.com