Jamie McGee and USA TODAY

Spirit Airlines is expanding to the Nashville International Airport, offering nonstop flights to Baltimore, Las Vegas and New Orleans.

Daily nonstop service will also include flights to Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa, Florida. All but the Tampa flights begin on Oct. 10. Tampa service begins Nov. 5.

“We had a hole in our network and Nashville is going to be a great opportunity for us,” CEO Ted Christie said in Nashville Monday. "We are going to give folks in Nashville the opportunity to visit some great leisure destinations."

The airline, based in Miramar, Fla., touts low-cost fares and will be the 15th carrier operating in Nashville.

The new flights to Florida will help connect Nashville travelers to the Caribbean and to 27 Latin American destinations, Christie said.

Nashville is one of the fastest-growing markets and fits the airline's key demographic, travelers looking for experiences, Christie said.

“The addition of new airlines and more air service creates competition in various markets and helps keep air fares affordable for our passengers," Dexter Samuels, Nashville International Airport’s Board Chair, said. "It’s a dynamic that well serves both the business and leisure traveler and underscores our strategic direction at BNA."

Expansions at the airport, which include 500,000 square feet added to the terminal and ticketing check-in area and six new gates, allows the airport to service more aircraft and carriers, said Doug Kreulen, CEO of the Nashville airport, said. The current expansion will bring the airport to 48 gates and the long-term vision includes 60 gates.

The airport continues to pursue new flights domestically and internationally, Kreulen said.

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"The biggest thing Spirit does for us is bring in more competition," Kreulen said. "It also gives our customers another opportunity to choose an airline that is going to a destination they are traveling to."

Christie said Spirit's low cost is enabled through efficiency measures — longer hours of operations for airplanes and additional seats on a plane. He anticipates additional Spirit flights in Nashville.

"The great thing about Nashville is it is both a growing metropolitan area with people who want to go places," Christie. "It's also becoming a very large tourist destination. It can serve both ends of the way we look at our network."

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