Spirit: Massive expansion makes Houston international base

Spirit Airlines announced a major expansion in Houston, saying it plans to add 10 new destinations from the city's Bush Intercontinental and develop the airport as a base for Latin American flights.

The new routes will give Spirit 22 nonstop destinations from Houston, nearly doubling its current offer of 12 nonstop routes from the city.

Among the 10 new routes Spirit plans for Houston, three are to Mexico and four are to Central America. The routes will become Spirit's first international flights from Houston. The expansion will make Houston Spirit's second busiest base for international service, behind only the carrier's main base in Fort Lauderdale.

Spirit's new routes from Houston Bush Intercontinental will be:

- Baltimore/Washington (BWI) (daily service begins March 27)

- Cancun, Mexico (3 weekly flights begin May 7; service becomes daily on June 11)

- Los Cabos, Mexico (2 weekly flights begin May 7, grows to 4 weekly flights by June 11)

- Managua, Nicaragua (3 weekly flights begin May 28)

- Oakland (daily service begins April 16)

- San Jose, Costa Rica (4 weekly flights begin May 28)

- San Pedro Sula, Honduras (3 weekly flights begin May 28)

- San Salvador, El Sal Salvador (4 weekly flights begin May 28)

- Toluca/Mexico City (2 weekly flights begin May 7, grows to 3 weekly flights by June 11)

- Tampa (daily service begins March 26)

Three of the new Houston routes – Oakland, Los Cabos and Toluca – are scheduled to be seasonal service that Spirit will offer only for its summer schedule. All of the international routes are pending regulatory approval.

Spirit already flies to 12 destinations on either a year-round or seasonal basis from Houston. Those destinations are Atlanta, Chicago O'Hare) Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Orleans, Orlando, and San Diego.

"Spirit Airlines undoubtedly recognizes the opportunities associated with an economy as dynamic as Houston's," Houston Aviation Director Mario Diaz says in a statement.

"The Spirit team arrived at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in 2012 offering two nonstop destinations, but with this new announcement that destination total will soon stand at 22," Diaz adds. "They've already proven their commitment to an aggressive growth strategy on the domestic front and now we're anxious to see them apply that same philosophy to Houston's international route map."