Discount carrier Spirit Airlines will offer nonstop service from the Philadelphia International Airport to Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
It was announced last week that starting in April 2016, Spirit Airlines will begin new seasonal daily service between the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and Philadelphia. The other destinations affected by the expansion were announced earlier this month.
Spirit’s new seasonal service between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Philadelphia will operate from April 14, 2016 through November 9, 2016.
The news follows Spirit’s recent announcement of nonstop service between PHL and the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), also starting in April 2016. With these additions, Spirit will operate nonstop service from Philadelphia to nine cities – Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit Fort Lauderdale, ,Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Myrtle Beach.
“We are very pleased Spirit continues to add service in Philadelphia,” said Philadelphia International Airport CEO Mark Gale. “Our customers are the beneficiaries of Spirit’s growth and expansion of services. As our airlines create more choices in scheduling, passengers often have more affordable travel options. It’s a trend we are excited to see.”
Spirit’s new flights will be available for purchase beginning Thursday.
The additional flights are expected to put downward pressure on fares from Philadelphia, a hub for American Airlines, which earlier this year completed a merger with US Airways.
Las Vegas and Dallas, two destinations served by Spirit from Philadelphia, have seen lower fares across the board.
In addition to Spirit, discounter Frontier Airlines has beefed up service out of Philadelphia after dropping service from Wilmington and reducing service from Trenton-Mercer County to destinations in Florida over the winter.
A look at the Frontier schedule shows that the airline has dropped its one daily flight to Minneapolis-St. Paul in early January and through April.
Both airlines offer deeply discounted base fares and then charge for most carry-on luggage, drinks and other services.
Seats on Spirit jets do not recline, which might be an issue to some travelers on long flights to destinations like Los Angeles.
The deep discounters also offer “clubs” that for a yearly fee further reduce fares.
Both Spirit and Frontier typically have a larger number of customers complaints than other carriers, due, in part, to the no frills approach.
