ST. LOUIS — Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines Inc., which are joining forces in a nearly $3 billion merger, overlap on nearly one-fifth of their routes — with the most significant overlap involving vacation hot spots.
Frontier Group Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: ULCC) and Spirit (NYSE: SAVE) on Monday morning announced the deal, which will combine two of the nation's largest budget airlines.
According to aviation data company Cirium, the airlines overlap on 519 out of 2,832 routes based on total passengers. That translates to 18% of their routes over the past year.
Routes from major metro areas to tourism hot spots like Orlando, Florida, and Las Vegas were the top overlapping routes based on total passengers served, according to Cirium's data.
At St. Louis Lambert International Airport, the two airlines are flying two identical domestic routes as of this month, according to Cirium.
That includes Orlando International Airport: Frontier has 423 flights this month to the Disney hot spot, while Spirit has 277. The other is Las Vegas International Airport: Frontier has 429 flights there this month, while Spirit has 266.
Frontier is already a major presence at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, with 122,000 passengers boarded in 2020, ranking it fifth among all Lambert airlines, according to Business Journal research. Last year was Spirit's first for providing service at Lambert.
While the long-term impact on individual airports remains to be seen, some analysts have said the deal will result in a more competitive carrier, according to Triangle Business Journal.
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