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New Orleans adds direct flights to Honduras, Cancun despite coronavirus concerns
Spirit Airlines said Monday that it is adding two new direct international flights from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, one to Cancun, Mexico, and the other to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, despite the widespread disruption to international travel in recent weeks because of the coronavirus epidemic.
Spirit CEO Ted Christie said that, like governments and industry leaders everywhere, he is monitoring the situation and trying to assess the potential damage that the increasing number of infections globally might wreak on the travel and tourism industries and the world economy.
“We are not exposed to the current focus (of virus containment): trans-Pacific, and to a narrower extent trans-Atlantic, travel,” Christie said. “As the virus migrates that could change, but for now (near-field destinations in Latin America) is the extent of our exposure.”
Looking past current airline industry concerns, local officials cheered the additional international connections.
With the addition of San Pedro Sula and the increase in flights to Cancun, the airport now offers direct flights to nine international destinations.
“That is amazing for a market this size,” said Kevin Dolliole, director of aviation at the airport.
In announcing the new route to Honduras, Spirit noted that New Orleans has a population of Honduran nationals estimated to be 100,000, one of the largest in the U.S., and there is regular demand from individuals traveling to and from their country of origin.
The budget airline’s flights to San Pedro Sula, which is Honduras’ industrial center and the second-largest city after the capital, Tegucigalpa, will start June 11 and run on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The new flights to Cancun, starting June 10, will bring the total Spirit flights to the Mexican holiday destination to four a week. Spirit also said it is also adding an additional daily flight from New Orleans to Orlando, Florida, starting April 22.
Read the full story at Nola.com
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