Spirit Airlines to expand service, increase routes to Puerto Rico

The five new routes will result in an economic impact of $11.96 million and 213,304 additional seats in the inventory available to travel to the island during 2023, officials said.

By The Star Staff

The executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, Carlos Mercado Santiago, announced Spirit Airlines’ expansion plans on Wednesday, which include five new routes and significant frequency increases between the United States and San Juan.

The announcement implies that Spirit will be offering up to 21 flights, on days of high demand, from 11 destinations to Puerto Rico starting in June.

Mercado Santiago said in a written statement that, “The expansion announced today by Spirit represents a growth of over 200 percent for the airline over the past four years.”

The five new routes will result in an economic impact of $11.96 million and 213,304 additional seats in the inventory available to travel to the island during 2023.

New daily nonstop flights between Luis Muñoz Marín Airport (SJU) and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) in Georgia, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in Texas, Wayne County Metropolitan Airport (DTW) in Michigan, Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) in Illinois and Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Connecticut will begin operations in May.

Additionally, the route between Orlando, Florida (MCO) and San Juan (SJU) will increase its frequency to five daily flights, and those from the cities of Boston, Baltimore, Newark, New Jersey and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will increase to two daily flights.

“The announcement of these new routes and more flight frequencies by Spirit is the result of a lot of effort and represents a greater offer for our passengers. Meanwhile, the opening of the new routes also provides more opportunities for strategic connection between San Juan and other destinations around the United States,” said Jorge Hernández, CEO of Aerostar Airport Holdings.

Discover Puerto Rico’s chief strategy officer, Edward Zayas, added, “We are very excited about these expansions in travel to and from Puerto Rico.”

“This shows the demand that our destiny is generating,” he said. “Our destination depends on air traffic and it is through expansions like these that our industry grows and on which so many Puerto Rican workers and families depend.”