Spirit Airlines today announced its commitment to deepen its presence in Houston by opening an aircraft maintenance facility at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).

The facility, located along John F. Kennedy Boulevard, will serve as a large aircraft maintenance hangar with offices and storage for Spirit’s technical operations team.

See Also: Spirit Airlines to Open Crew Bases in Miami and Atlanta

The maintenance complex includes two aircraft bays and ramps for up to four aircraft, as well as storage, stores, and offices, and adds an important geographic location to complement Spirit’s Detroit maintenance center.

«Keeping our fleet in top condition is a priority for us every day, and we’ve chosen the perfect additional location for our stellar technical operations team as they support our continued growth,» said John Bendoraitis, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Spirit Airlines.

The ultra-low-cost carrier plans to staff the new facility with 50 members to maintain and service Spirit’s growing fleet.

See Also: Spirit Airlines Grows in Las Vegas with Flights to Five New Destinations

Spirit is scheduled to take delivery of 24 new aircraft this year for a projected fleet-wide total of 197 by the end of 2022, with 33 more aircraft projected for delivery in 2023. It currently has 31 Airbus A319s, 64 Airbus A320ceo, 51 Airbus A320neo and 30 A321ceo aircraft.

Growing presence in Houston 

According to information obtained by Aviacionline through Cirium, Houston is Spirit’s fifth most important base for the northern summer season, accounting for 6.7% of the frequencies in its network of destinations.

The company will have 483,416 seats between July and September at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), flying to:

• El Salvador: San Salvador (SAL).
• United States: Atlanta (ATL), Chicago/O’hare (ORD), Denver (DEN), Detroit (DTW), Philadelphia (PHL), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Los Angeles (LAX), Las Vegas (LAS), Miami (MIA), Myrtle Beach (MYR), Newark (EWR), New Orleans (MSY), Oakland (OAK), Orlando (MCO), San Diego (SAN), Tampa (TPA), Washington/Baltimore (BWI).
• Honduras: Tegucigalpa/Comayagua (XPL) and San Pedro Sula (SAP).
• Guatemala: Guatemala City (GUA).
• Mexico: Cancun (CUN), Los Cabos (SJD), Monterrey (MTY) and Puerto Vallarta (PVR).

«Houston’s strong economic outlook makes our city an attractive ally for business growth and expansion in a global marketplace,» said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.

«The new maintenance facility at Bush Airport will add quality jobs in our community. We value Spirit Airlines’ commitment to Houston as they continue to expand services in our city and invest in our workforce,» concluded Sylvester.