Spirit Begins New Service, Expands International Connectivity
Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) introduced two more nonstop routes on Spirit Airlines, to Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in Fort Myers four times weekly and Tampa International Airport (TPA) three times per week.
The new flights to Fort Myers and Tampa were scheduled to start Nov. 17 and 18, respectively, and come in time for the busy holiday travel season.
“It’s exciting to see Spirit expanding to two more Florida destinations from MHT,” said Airport Director Ted Kitchens, A.A.E. “These flights also come just before the busy holiday travel season after a year when many people were unable to visit their loved ones.”
The two routes join Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, bringing Spirit’s total number of destinations at MHT to four. Spirit will be adding a fifth destination, Myrtle Beach, on April 20, 2022.
As the doors reopen for international travel, passengers are using MHT to connect across the globe. Fort Lauderdale in particular is a popular connection point for Spirit passengers looking to head farther south.
“These new flights and low fares allow our passengers to connect on Spirit flights for winter getaways in the Caribbean and Central and South America and enjoy a brief respite from the cold winter,” Kitchens said.
When Spirit’s new flights start this week, the airline is changing the departure time for the daily Fort Lauderdale flight from an 8:10 a.m. departure to 6:10 a.m. This earlier departure from Manchester will allow passengers to connect in Fort Lauderdale in time to meet at least 14 international flights taking off in the late morning.
These destinations include:
• Armenia, Colombia
• Barranquilla, Colombia
• Bogota, Colombia
• Cali, Colombia
• Cartagena, Colombia
• Cancun, Mexico
• Guatemala City, Guatemala
• Kingston, Jamaica
• Montego Bay, Jamaica
• Medellin, Colombia
• Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
• San Salvador, El Salvador
• Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• San Jose, Costa Rica
“Time and time again, our passengers are showing us that they prefer to fly out of MHT, even to connect internationally,” Kitchens said. “I appreciate our ongoing partnership with Spirit Airlines that allows us to bring more destinations to our travelers.”
In 2019, over 15,000 passengers connected out of MHT to reach 163 international destinations.
Spirit Airlines is the first new airline at MHT in 17 years and was first announced on June 16.