Florida’s Hometown Airline is brightening up the skies over Miami with a steady stream of its signature yellow planes. Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) launched service at Miami International Airport (MIA), with its first flight arriving from Atlantic City, N.J. (ACY) and first departure bound for Port-au-Prince, Haiti (PAP).
Spirit’s presence at MIA begins with service to nine destinations, which will grow to 31 nonstop options by the time expansions in November and January are complete. The carrier will serve 20 markets domestically and 11 internationally.
Today’s ribbon-cutting ceremony included the announcement of the Free Spirit Flyaway, a nationwide promotion in which Spirit will give away 31 pairs of roundtrip tickets in honor of each of its nonstop routes from MIA.1 Even better—the only requirement for entering for a chance to win is to be a member of the Free Spirit® loyalty program, which costs nothing to join and offers the fastest way to earn rewards and status.2
«Launching nonstop flights to 31 destinations right out of the gate in Miami is a huge milestone for us, and we want to share all that excitement with our Guests,» said Ted Christie, President and CEO of Spirit Airlines. «We want our Free Spirit Loyalty winners to be able to choose their own destinations because flexibility is what we’re providing in Miami—multiple daily flights that go all over the U.S. and stretch into South America. Combined with our flights from West Palm Beach and our position as the largest carrier in Fort Lauderdale, we’re giving our Guests more options in South Florida than ever.»
The celebration starts today at spirit.com/flyaway. Between now and Nov. 3, 2021 Guests can enter for a chance to win roundtrip tickets for two with complimentary airfare, bags, seat selection and Shortcut Boarding.3 Each of the winners will be able to plan a trip from their closest Spirit airport to any of the destinations the airline serves.4
Free Spirit Members can take advantage of Spirit’s Status Match Challenge, which offers anyone with elite status on another airline the equivalent Free Spirit Status for 90 days and the ability to quickly earn Free Spirit Silver or Gold Status after that.
«Spirit Airlines is America’s only major airline headquartered in South Florida, and welcoming them to our airport is extremely special,» said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. «We proudly welcome the significant investment of flights, jobs and business revenue that Spirit is bringing to MIA and to Miami-Dade County, and we are excited to see the company grow as they offer more travel options to our residents and visitors.»
«We are immensely grateful for Spirit’s decision to not only expand to MIA, but with a sizeable presence of service to 31 cities,» said Ralph Cutié, MIA Director and CEO. «With more than 200 weekly flights by January, Spirit will instantly become one of our busiest passenger airlines, giving our travelers even more options for flying to and from Miami-Dade County.»
Spirit’s full schedule is large enough to earn the airline a position as MIA’s second largest carrier. Adding service at MIA is the next chapter of Spirit’s story as the carrier steps up to meet the demand for high-value travel to and from South Florida. The carrier is staffing MIA with more than 200 new Spirit Family Members and supporting the expansion with 16 brand new fuel-efficient Airbus A320neo planes being delivered this year. Next year, Spirit plans to accept another 24 new planes into the airline’s Fit Fleet®, which is among the youngest in the industry.
