Spirit Airlines adds third
flight to cope with demand
PHILIPSBURG--It started out with a one way ticket to St. Maarten for US five cents and the bookings poured in. After the promotion, seats continued to be snapped up, prompting low cost carrier Spirit Airlines to add another flight to its scheduled two to the island before even carrying out its inaugural flight set for April 21.
This is “wonderful news” for the tourism industry and the island in general, St. Maarten Tourist Bureau Director Regina LaBega told The Daily Herald. Spirit Airlines’ inaugural flight is set for Saturday, April 21. The new flight for Fridays was added to the itinerary just about three weeks after the airline announced it was flying to “The Friendly Island.” Initially, twice weekly non-stop flights between Fort Lauderdale, Florida and St. Maarten were scheduled for Saturdays and Sundays.
“The five cent special was sold out within five minutes. The promotion offered five cent for one way and US $99 for the return leg. Seats had to be quickly reserved for the inaugural flight. There are still more specials to come,” LaBega said. “The load factor for the flight is very good.”
There is hope that Spirit will soon become a daily flight. “If we look at what our competition is doing, they are attracting daily and twice daily flights from low cost carriers. It would be wonderful if we are able to get Spirit daily.”
The airline will use a 140 new seat Airbus 8319 for this new service. The airline recently acquired a new Airbus fleet.
To date, the island has not carried out any marketing promotion with the low cost carrier but there are plans for a sales promotion and other ventures to further market the destination. “The airline is eager to do some cross promotion. We are planning a promotional venture to Fort Lauderdale and some of its feeder cities,” LaBega said.
Attracting a low cost carrier is an important objective in St. Maarten’s Tourism Master Plan. Cheaper fares is expected to translate into higher visitor expenditure on the island and assist with eliminating seasonal fare fluctuations and increase year round employment.
St Maarten vacation rental
