The US low-fares sector continues to invest and grow, with leisure carrier Spirit Airlines now poised to expand with the aid of $125 million from a venture capital fund. Florida-based low-fare carrier Spirit will use the funding for an ambitious upgrade to double its 31-aircraft fleet by 2009. The investor, Oaktree Capital Management, has won a controlling stake in the airline.
Soon after sealing its new capital, Spirit announced an order for 35 Airbus A319/A320s, plus 60 options. The first aircraft will be delivered in March 2005, leading to a phase out of its Boeing MD-80 fleet.
These dealings underline the increasing confidence of the low-cost carriers as they invest in infrastructure. Frontier Airlines, for one, is establishing a maintenance centre in Kansas City, and creating an in-house flight kitchen, taking over from Chelsea Catering. It is also launching its second hub this month, at Los Angeles International. Frontier says it has seen little impact from United's low-fares creation Ted, based, like Frontier, in Denver.
AirTran Airways too has added infrastructure to support its growth. Now that it is flying only the Boeing 717, AirTran has an in-house training facility. Leased from Boeing's Alteon flight training unit, the Atlanta Hartsfield centre will have six simulators and computer-based training.
AirTran is building its north-eastern business-route network with two new routes from Boston Logan this June, one to the Akron/Canton airport in Ohio, near Cleveland and the other to Newport News/Williamsburg in Virginia.
Source: Airline Business
