Spirit Airlines Adding New Cleveland-to-Newark Route, will Take on United in New York City Region
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Spirit Airlines will start flying between Cleveland Hopkins and Newark Liberty International Airport next month, challenging long-dominant United Airlines on the route and likely bringing down fares to the New York City area.
The new route is all the more surprising given the dramatic drop in demand for air travel in recent months due to the coronavirus pandemic. But airlines have been gradually adding back service in recent weeks, buoyed by an uptick in interest primarily from leisure travelers.
By July 1, Spirit expects to be back to nearly pre-pandemic service from Cleveland, according to spokesman Field Sutton.
“Our network planning team sees an opportunity in CLE to go beyond the service we offered prior to the pandemic,” he said.
He said the new Cleveland to Newark flight is the carrier’s only new route for July.
“That route is only served by one carrier right now, so we’re pleased to be able to offer an alternative for traveling to the NYC area,” he said.
That one carrier is United Airlines, which recently restarted service between Cleveland and Newark, and before the pandemic offered as many as seven flights a day to the city.
Fares to the New York City region, at least prior to the pandemic, have typically been some of the highest from Cleveland. According to third quarter 2019 data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, fares from Cleveland to the New York City area were $219 one way.
The new Spirit flights to Newark are expected to go on sale this afternoon.
The once-a-day flight will leave Cleveland at 9:30 a.m., arriving in Newark at 11:03 a.m. The return flight leaves Newark at 6:50 p.m., landing in Cleveland at 8:28 p.m.
Spirit currently flies from Newark to 16 cities, including Las Vegas, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Austin, Los Angeles and Myrtle Beach. Cleveland is Spirit’s first Midwestern destination from Newark.
In January, Spirit announced a major expansion at Cleveland Hopkins, with a 50% increase in flights for the summer, to destinations including Orlando, Myrtle Beach and Las Vegas. At the time, Spirit’s vice president of airport services Mike Byrom praised Clevelanders’ support of the low-cost carrier, which was celebrating its fifth year at Hopkins.
“We’ve come a long way in a short period of time,” he said. “Folks in this community, they’ve really embraced us.”
Two months later, the pandemic hit, forcing all carriers to cut way back. Carriers are gradually adding flights back, with Spirit among the most aggressively resuming service in Cleveland.
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