Spirit Airlines, a low-fare carrier with service to 14 airports in the U.S., showed solid increases in June in revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and available seat miles (ASMs). RPMs for the month were up 10.9 percent over June 1999, with figures of 192,412,000 and 173,497,000, respectively, while the year-to-date figure increased by 31.5 percent. ASMs for June 2000 were up 9.7 percent over June 1999, with figures of 264,831,000 and 241,355,000, respectively, and a year-to-date increase of 37.2 percent.

Spirit Airlines also posted a steady 2.4% percent increase in the number of passengers carried in June 2000 versus June 1999. Last month, the airline carried 197,984 passengers, topping last year`s monthly figure of 193,251 representing an increase of 4,733 passengers. The year-to-date figure of 1,435,868 passengers carried is up 23.2% percent over last year’s figure of 1,165,517.

The load factor for the month also rose, reaching 72.7 percent, registering a solid 1.1 percent increase, when compared to the June 1999 figure of 71.9 percent. Considering Spirit Airlines’ ongoing plan to grow with 164-seat MD-80 aircraft replacing smaller DC-9 aircraft, which creates large capacity increases, it is extremely encouraging to see traffic growing faster than capacity this month.

The MD-80 is much more fuel-efficient than the DC-9 and operates more efficiently. Spirit Airlines anticipates replacing at least one more of its DC-9 aircraft with an MD-80 aircraft before year-end and adding four additional MD-80 aircraft.

Spirit Airlines, which offers low-fare jet service to some of America’s most popular leisure destinations, is one of the fastest growing, privately held air carriers in the United States. The airline currently has a fleet of 22 planes

(7 DC-9 and 15 MD-80), flying nearly 100 flights per day.

The carrier’s current route structure includes service to 14 U.S. cities, including Atlantic City, Cleveland, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Islip, LaGuardia, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Myrtle Beach, Newark, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach. Last month, Spirit Airlines announced major expansion of its service at New York’s LaGuardia airport to 20 daily operations effective September 5, 2000. The airline has been granted slots at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport and Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

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