Spirit Adds Direct New Orleans Flights to Honduras and Cancun Despite Virus Scare

Spirit Airlines said Monday that it is adding two new direct international flights from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, one to Cancun, Mexico, and the other to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, despite the widespread disruption to international travel in recent weeks because of the coronavirus epidemic.

Ted Christie, Spirit's chief executive officer, said that like governments and industry leaders everywhere, he is monitoring the situation and trying to assess the potential damage that the increasing number of infections globally might wreak on the travel and tourism industries and the world economy.

However, Christie noted that Monday's announcement of additional flights from New Orleans to Latin American destinations underlines that Spirit's focus outside of its domestic travel network is to the Caribbean, Mexico and Central and South America, which together account for about 15% of the airlines' overall business.

"We are not exposed to the current focus (of virus containment): trans-Pacific, and to a narrower extent trans-Atlantic, travel," Christie said. "As the virus migrates that could change, but for now (near-field destinations in Latin America) is the extent of our exposure."

Airlines' shares have been slammed in recent days amid a broader selloff tied to the coronavirus. Investors are concerned that precautions to contain the virus will slow down manufacturing, travel, business gatherings and other commerce.

Shares in Spirit, which ranks as the eighth-largest U.S. airline by enplaned passengers, have slumped by about 40% since mid-February and were down another 4% on Monday at $27.25.

"There is fear being priced into equities broadly," Christie said. "We will have an impact (of the virus) over time but our view and hope is that it will be somewhat transitory."

Looking past current airline industry concerns, local officials cheered the additional international connections. Kevin Dolliole, director of aviation at the airport, noted that Spirit Airlines, which started its first flight from New Orleans to Dallas-Fort Worth in 2013, is the fastest-growing airline operating from New Orleans.

"Spirit now has 21 direct flights from the airport and we hope that this is the beginning of even more," Dolliole said. He also noted the importance of the San Pedro Sula flight, pointing out that an estimated 20,000 people a year already travel there with New Orleans as their starting point.

With the addition of San Pedro Sula and the increase in flights to Cancun, the airport now offers direct flights to nine international destinations. "That is amazing for a market this size," Dolliole said.

In announcing the new route to Honduras, Spirit noted that New Orleans has a population of Honduran nationals estimated to be 100,000, one of the largest in the U.S., and there is regular demand from individuals traveling to and from their country of origin.

The budget airline's flights to San Pedro Sula, which is Honduras' industrial center and the second-largest city after the capital, Tegucigalpa, will start June 11 and run on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The new flights to Cancun, starting June 10, will bring the total Spirit flights to the Mexican holiday destination to four a week. Spirit also said it is also adding an additional daily flight from New Orleans to Orlando, Florida, starting April 22.

Welcoming the new flights, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said they will be a boon to the city's Honduran community.

"I can't wait to book my first flight to Honduras and I'm going to tack on a flight to Cancun at the same time," she said at an event at the airport to announce the flights.

———

©2020 The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate

Visit The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate at www.nola.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.