Virgin America has announced plans to significantly expand its Dallas presence by operating new daily nonstop flights from Dallas’ Love Field airport (DAL) to major US destinations.
To expand operations, Virgin would seek to secure two gates at Love Field and then move its current operations from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to DAL in October 2014.
The airline said the airport’s centralised location makes it a more convenient choice for Dallas-based and Dallas-destined business travellers.
The move would see Virgin operate flights from DAL to New York, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago.
The move hinges on gates expected to be divested by American Airlines due to the merger with US Airways. Part of the merger deal with the Department of Justice required the merged airlines to give up gates at several domestic airports.
Virgin said their movement into Love Field would increase competition and offer lower fares for passengers.
“As the last major airline launched in the US, we’ve seen firsthand what happens when new entrant airlines have a chance to come into markets where a few big airlines dominate, service improves and fares drop,” said Virgin America’s CEO, David Cush.
“The opening of access to these slot-constrained and gate-constrained airports is an infrequent occurrence at best, and we hope to have the opportunity to expand our network and continue doing what we do best.”
Virgin also said it wants to add two roundtrip flights a day from Dallas to Chicago in early 2015.
VirginAmerica.com