Spirit Airlines has announced that it will add Memphis, Tennessee, to its route network next year. Home to major tourist sites celebrating rock and roll history, including Sun Studio and Graceland, Spirit will be offering more ways to visit and will be one of the first airlines in years to enter the airport. Three routes will launch between April and June of 2022.

Spirit Airlines plans three routes from Memphis

From Memphis International Airport (MEM), Spirit Airlines will launch three daily flights next year. Las Vegas (LAS) and Orlando (MCO) will both launch on April 20th. Los Angeles (LAX) will follow on June 8th. While these are the three initial destinations, Spirit will likely add more service if demand from Memphis is strong.

Spirit Airlines will add three new routes from Memphis next year. Photo: Spirit Airlines

John Kirby, Vice President of Network Planning at Spirit Airlines, stated the following on the new routes from MEM:

"We're excited about serving Memphis because we think travelers in Western Tennessee and nearby states could use more high value flight options to popular leisure destinations. Also, Memphis is a vibrant community with so much to explore in music, food, culture, and more for visitors looking for a rich experience."

Memphis is the second destination from Tennessee that Spirit Airlines will serve. The airline first added flights to Nashville in 2019. In addition, the airline has continued its national expansion and has added some recent flights in the geographic area. In addition to Nashville in 2019, St. Louis and Louisville launched in May 2021.

Growth has been at the forefront of Spirit's strategy over the next few years. Photo; Airbus

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Memphis gets a new airline

Memphis International Airport has had a long history. From the 1980s until 2013, the airport served as a major passenger hub for several airlines. This included Republic Airlines, but most famously Northwest Airlines. For years, Northwest dominated at the airport, using it as a passenger hub. However, things changed starting in 2008.

Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines merged. While the original plan was to maintain all of Northwest's hubs, it soon became apparent that Delta would not keep that strategy. In 2013, Delta dropped the Memphis hub. As a result, the airport went from one of the busiest passenger airports in the world to one hunting around for new airline service. While cargo makes up the bulk of MEM's operations, the airport has worked hard to recruit new passenger service.

Low-cost airlines started to arrive in Memphis in the years after. This includes Southwest, Frontier, and Allegiant. Memphis became an important airport for origin and destination traffic. This is the kind of traffic that Spirit Airlines traditionally targets and has gained a sizable market share.

Spirit continues its growth

Spirit Airlines has continued to grow its presence across the United States. Memphis is the latest airport to benefit from Spirit's arrival. The airline is connecting Memphis to three top leisure destinations. These routes will target both originating travelers looking to go from Memphis to these destinations and vice versa.

Powering Spirit's growth has been the ongoing delivery stream of Airbus A320neo aircraft. Photo: Airbus

Spirit will be taking 24 brand new Airbus A320neo aircraft in 2022. The new planes will help power the airline's expansion that has brought it to new destinations like Tegucigalpa (XPL), Pensacola (PNS), Miami (MIA), and more. As Spirit takes more new aircraft, network growth and new city announcements like Memphis will continue. Some growth may be more cautious after the airline faced a reckoning over staffing, but the carrier is still betting that growth will help power the airline's maturation and underscore its success.