Spirit Airlines has launched two new daily nonstop routes between Texas and the Mexican city of Monterrey, boosting cross-border capacity by over 5,000 seats per week.
The two new services—one from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) and the other from Houston-George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)—kicked off on October 6th. Both routes are operated with an Airbus A320, which has a capacity of 182 seats.
Daily flights from Austin take off at 11:43 am, with the return flight departing at 7:12 pm.
Outbound flights from Monterrey International Airport (MTY) take off at 1:42 pm, with the return flight from Houston scheduled for 5:05 pm each day.
The low-cost carrier already connects the U.S. to three Mexican destinations: Cancun (CUN), Los Cabos (SJD), and Puerto Vallarta (SJD). But Monterrey, the state capital of Nuevo Leon, is the first inland city in the country to be served by the airline.
“It is exciting to launch service into Monterrey with a historic route from Austin that provides critical connectivity and a nonstop route from Houston that expands our extensive international service at IAH,” said the vice president of network planning at Spirit, John Kirby.
“Monterrey attracts vacationers, family, and friends year-round and is a great addition for our guests looking for high-value options to visit Mexico’s third largest city.”
The new routes take the total number of Spirit’s nonstop services between the U.S. and Mexico to 13, with 93 flights per week holding the capacity for just under 17,000 passengers.
It is also a significant boost to Monterrey’s connectivity to the U.S., with Spirit becoming the eighth airline to offer direct flights to the city from the United States, along with American Airlines, United, Delta, Frontier, Aeromexico, Viva Aerobus, and Aeromar.
Meanwhile, the CEO of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Jacqueline Yaft, showed excitement about what the new routes mean for Austin’s growing reputation as an international hub.
“We are fast becoming not only a regional hub for Texas but also an international one as we add flights all over the world,” said Yaft. “As a close neighbor, there are many connections, both personal and business, to Mexico most especially in Monterrey which is one of the most-visited cities in Mexico.”
