Spirit Airlines adds 2 nonstop flights in Charlotte. Here’s when they will take off
A discount airline is adding two nonstop flights out of Charlotte starting later this fall.
Spirit Airline will offer new direct flights to Miami and New York City out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport, the carrier confirmed to The Charlotte Observer on Tuesday.
The new routes start in a couple of months: the one to LaGuardia Airport in New York City takes off Nov. 1. The route to Miami International Airport will start Nov. 7, spokesman Michael Lopardi said.
According to Google Flights, you can book the Spirit flight to the Big Apple in the first week of December for a little more than $200 round trip. A round trip to the Sunshine State around the same time will cost $184 — although the low-cost airline charges extra for carry-on bags and seat reservations.
Spirit comes to CLT
Spirit started service at Charlotte Douglas in 2019, with direct routes to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Orlando, Newark, N.J., and Baltimore/Washington.
At the time, the airline’s vice president of network planning John Kirby indicated Spirit would continue to expand in the state: “We’re very bullish on North Carolina.”
But Kirby told the Observer that Spirit wasn’t trying to compete with the airline American Airlines, the dominant carrier at Charlotte Douglas.
“They’re far and away the largest carrier with over 90% of the (Charlotte) market,” he said. “We’re just trying to offer an alternative.”
Other flight changes
But as Spirit is adding flights in Charlotte, its largest competitor is pulling back.
Last week, American Airlines cut a direct flight to the tropical vacation spot Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Earlier in the year, American said it was dropping routes to Flint, Michigan and Alexandria, Louisiana, and is suspending service to two other cities in October: El Paso, Texas, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
In August, the airline confirmed to the Observer it had cut about 1,000 flights from its original fall schedule. It trimmed 527 departures from the schedule in September and 548 in October.
Charlotte Douglas was one of the busiest airports in the world last year, ranked the fifth busiest airport for arrivals and departures, according to Airports Council International 2021 preliminary rankings.
This story was originally published September 20, 2022 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Spirit Airlines adds 2 nonstop flights in Charlotte. Here’s when they will take off."
