Spirit Airlines To Start Nonstop Flights From Orlando To St. Thomas

ST. THOMAS — On the heels of the launch of new service between Fort Lauderdale and St. Croix, Spirit Airlines has announced even more flights to the U.S. Virgin Islands from the Sunshine State, the Department of Tourism (D.O.T.) announced Thursday.

D.O.T. made known that Spirit Airlines will inaugurate service between Orlando International Airport (MCO) and Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas (STT) with three flights a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, beginning November 8, 2018. The service augments existing daily flights between Fort Lauderdale and St. Thomas.

“These new flights represent the fruit of the hard work of our administration to add new service and increase flights to our destination,” said Governor Kenneth Mapp. “New flights increase affordable opportunities for Virgin Islanders to travel to and from the mainland, while helping our bread and butter tourism industry recover.”

“Working alongside our colleagues at the Virgin Islands Port Authority, we continue to invest heavily in our airlift development strategy and value our partnership with Spirit as they continue to prioritize travel to and from our Territory,” D.O.T. Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty said.

As part of a wider announcement, Spirit will begin offering international service from Orlando International Airport to 11 new destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as three more domestic routes rolling out through the fall, according to the release. The announcement marks one of the largest expansions in the airline’s history and includes service to the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“We have been proud to serve Orlando for 25 years, and after more than doubling service last year, we are so proud to be expanding there yet again,” said Bob Fornaro, Spirit’s chief executive officer. “Orlando is now one of our largest markets, and we have no plans on stopping our growth. The region is not only a wonderful, family-friendly destination, but it is well-positioned to now serve as a gateway to the Caribbean and Latin America.”

With Spirit’s expanding network, the airline continues to improve its on-time performance and guest satisfaction, while building upon its larger commitment to invest in the guest experience, the release said. The airline recently announced that state-of-the-art, high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity will be installed on its entire fleet by summer of 2019.