Discounter Spirit Airways said Monday it will add service to Dallas from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport next year and has plans for other new destinations.
Analysts said the announcement of planned new flights -- less than two months after Spirit arrived in Minnesota -- indicate the airline is having success in the Twin Cities and that there is an appetite for lower airfares among cost-conscious consumers.
"This is good news for Minneapolis-St. Paul because it adds another city in which there will be some competition," said Terry Trippler, owner of airline rules website ThePlaneRules.com. "Spirit doesn't seem to be afraid of anybody."
Spirit will name more new cities out of MSP on Tuesday morning, spokeswoman Misty Pinson said in an e-mail. The airline said it will add four nonstop flights a week out of the Twin Cities to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport starting April 26, 2013. Those will later become daily flights in mid-June and compete with Delta Air Lines, Sun Country Airlines and American Airlines.
It's unusual for an airline to announce new routes so quickly, said Patrick Hogan, spokesman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission. It usually takes a while for an airline to gauge the success of its initial routes, he said.
"It's a good sign they have confidence that people in the Twin Cities are buying and will continue to buy tickets on Spirit," Hogan said.
Spirit is known for discount fares as low as $28.79 after taxes and fees. The Miramar, Fla.-based airline's business model is focused on hawking cheap plane tickets by offering less leg room and in some cases, removing bathrooms on planes to cram in more seats.
The airline makes a large portion of its sales -- 31 percent -- through à la carte fees, charging fliers for items that are often free on legacy airlines, such as stuffing carry-on bags in the overhead bins and ordering soda.
