Spirit Airlines offers $9 flights from L.A. to Las Vegas

Discounter Spirit Airlines has decided to jump into the already-crowded market to Southern California by announcing it will launch five-a-day flights to Los Angeles International Airport in May.

The route was covered by 214 flights a week in February, according to McCarran International Airport statistics, a number that grows to 444 when including suburban airports such as Ontario and Burbank.

By contrast, the next largest market from Las Vegas is the San Francisco Bay Area, with 262 flights spread among three airports.

Executives at Spirit would not comment on why they chose to attempt to crack a busy route with entrenched competitors, including market leader Southwest.

But to grab introductory attention, Spirit said it will sell a limited number of seats at $9 one-way based on a round trip purchase, not including taxes and fees.

Spirit, based in Miramar, Fla., has long followed a strategy of putting out low fares but aggressively adding extras. Last year, for example, Spirit gained notoriety as the first airline to make passengers pay as much as $45 each for carry-on bag.

"What Spirit may be doing is building a brand base and name in Las Vegas," said Michael Boyd of the consulting firm Boyd Group International in Evergreen, Colo. "They go to vacation destinations and want to build their presence in the vacation destination."

Spirit carried 568,000 passengers through McCarran in 2007, but that had fallen to 205,000 in 2009 as it slashed its flight schedule.

Growing to 318,000 passengers last year, it was still the second-smallest airline flying to McCarran.

In November, it began to rebuild by adding a flight to Chicago O'Hare, and will launch service to Dallas/Fort Worth on May 5, simultaneous with the Los Angeles flights.

When Allegiant Air, operated by Allegiant Travel Co., began flying from Las Vegas to Long Beach late last year, it sparked a fare war that reduced one-way fares to as little as $19 for several weeks as Southwest joined in the fray.

"Vegas-LAX is a very robust market," Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins said. "Clearly it's a market where there is business to be had and we will compete to get a majority of it."

He declined to speculate on whether another round of deep discounting was in the works.

Through its Fort Lauderdale, Fla., hub, the heart of the Spirit's route system connects the Midwest and Northeast to warm weather of Florida and the Caribbean.

Contact reporter Tim O'Reiley at
toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.