GREENSBORO, NC (WFMY) - Piedmont Triad International Airport gained a new carrier Tuesday, Spirit Airlines. Spirit will begin offering flights at PTI later this year.
The airline's Facebook page says they fly to more than 60 domestic and international destinations with 460+ daily departures. Service will start at PTI on Sept. 6 with 2 flights per week to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), and Tampa International Airport (TPA). There will be 3 weekly flights to and from Orlando International Airport (MCO). Spirit Airlines plans to add an additional flight to each route on November 8th. Bookings are currently available on the airline's website.
The announcement was made from PTI at a news conference.
"We are a rapidly growing airline and we look for opportunities where we see places that are under-served or overpriced in terms of air travel. We saw an opportunity here in the Piedmont Triad to make a difference here in terms of offering low fares and nonstop flights," said Mark Kopczak, Spirit Airlines.
PTI is the airlines' 66th service station
Spirit airline is known for fares as low as $25 dollars because of its a la carte service, where flyers decide what services they need and pay for just that. Triad travelers are already excited about the low-cost option.
"I think there is a great opportunity for more and more of that here because there's a lot of businesses and frequent travelers that would love that and it is good to see spirit jump on the bandwagon," said Sophia Jouran who was heading to Tampa on a different airline.
In addition to the cheaper airfares, the airline is bringing about 30 more jobs to the airport as it considers other destination options.
"We hope to see them grow and have this be a win-win for our community, the airline, and our airport," concluded Kevin Baker, the Executive Director of PTI.
► Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the WFMY News 2 App: Apple Users, Android Users