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Spirit Airlines to launch service at MKE By Brandon Anderegg, staff writer
BY THE NUMBERS
The cost for a new Milwaukee Public Museum is estimated at
$
240 MILLION
including site purchase, transition costs, endowment costs, collection moving costs and space for Betty Brinn Children’s Museum. 4 / BizTimes Milwaukee MARCH 8, 2021
Spirit Airlines will offer nonstop daily flights from Milwaukee to Orlando, Las Vegas and Los Angeles this summer, the air carrier announced recently at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. The airline will be the only air carrier in Milwaukee serving nonstop flights to Los Angeles. Flights to all three destinations will begin June 24 with airfare starting at $69. “Spirit’s legendary low fares will make it more affordable for people from all walks of life to fly to and from Milwaukee,” said Brian Dranzik, Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport director. Las Vegas and Orlando are Spirit’s largest hubs, which means Wisconsin travelers will also have access to several parts of the U.S. and other countries. “It’s a win-win because our Badger State guests will get to enjoy convenient non-stop service to popular destinations and Spirit frequent fliers can experience Milwaukee’s great festivals and sports scene and enjoy fun outdoor activities just in time for summer,” said John Kirby, Spirit vice president of network planning. The airline operates an all-Airbus fleet of about 145 single-aisle aircraft in the A320 family, which carry between 148 and 228 passengers depending on the model. The ultra-low-cost carrier oper-
ates more than 600 daily flights between major U.S. cities and vacation spots in South Florida, the Caribbean and Latin America, serving more than 75 destinations. Spirit also announced that it will add Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville, Kentucky to its route map with nonstop daily service to four cities including Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Offering flights from both Milwaukee and Louisville is part of a broader strategy for Spirit to increase its market share, a measure the airline plans to roll out in phases, said Spirit Airlines regional director Atul Kumria. “We see a great opportunity,” Kumria said. “We already see the level of confidence of traveling guests has gone up with the (COVID-19) vaccine already out and we see that happening in our bookings.” Spirit will be the eighth passenger airline serving Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. The others are Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines. Passenger traffic at Mitchell International fell 61.9% in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to 2.6 million passengers, down from nearly 6.9 million passengers in 2019. n
