Spirit continues to expand its service to Puerto Rico with a brand-new flight from Fort Myers to the island territory.
The low-cost airline launched service between San Juan and Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in Fort Myers on Friday, marking the city’s first-ever service to Puerto Rico. Spirit will operate the four-times-weekly service Wednesday through Saturday, year-round.
In total, Spirit has 14 nonstop flights from Fort Myers, as the airline celebrated three decades of service from the city last week. The route announcement comes shortly after the airline introduced several new seasonal flights to Fort Myers from Charleston, Norfolk and Richmond.
“RSW has been a great, long-time partner of Spirit Airlines, and we’re grateful to the Fort Myers community for their continued support as we add the only nonstop service to SJU on our 30th anniversary,” said John Kirby, Spirit Airlines vice president of network planning, in a statement. “The addition of nonstop service to San Juan creates an exciting opportunity to connect these two vibrant communities with reliable and convenient service.”
Fort Myers is now the airline’s fifth city in Florida to offer nonstop service to Puerto Rico, joining existing service from Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando and Tampa.
The news comes less than a year after the low-cost carrier unveiled a major expansion from Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth and Hartford to Puerto Rico, which the airline says is its “top Caribbean destination”. In addition to its main hub at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Spirit flies to other Puerto Rican cities, including Aguadilla and Ponce.
2024 will be a pivotal year for Spirit as the low-cost carrier continues to upgrade its fleet with the delivery of two dozen more Airbus A321neos, which feature wider seats throughout the cabin. With the JetBlue-Spirit merger process underway, the fate of the two airlines is also expected to be decided next year.