Spirit Airlines (NK, Fort Lauderdale International) has announced it will open a station at Miami International airport on October 6, 2021, gradually launching 30 new routes from the Floridan gateway without affecting capacity at its nearby Fort Lauderdale International base.

"We are the largest airline at FLL, and we intend to stay that way... The demand is there to support growth throughout South Florida. Our flying out of MIA is in support of continued expansion in the region," the carrier told Routes Online.

According to the ch-aviation schedules module, the ultra-low-cost-carrier will initially launch the following routes on October 6:

The base will be significantly expanded starting on November 17, when Spirit Airlines plans to add the following services to its nascent Miami network:

All of these routes will operate daily except for services to La Guardia (2x daily), San José (4x weekly), and St. Thomas (3x weekly).

Spirit Airlines will use a mix of A319-100s and A320-200s to operate its routes from Miami. The airline clarified in a statement to ch-aviation that it would not base any flight crews out of Miami.

The ULCC does not currently serve Miami but intends to become the second-largest operator at the airport, behind American Airlines, once its base is operational. It is already the largest carrier at Fort Lauderdale Int'l airport, where it has a 33.2% market share by scheduled departures, the ch-aviation capacities module indicates.