COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — Booking a flight out of Colorado Springs can be simple, but not always the cheapest. Passengers at the Colorado Springs Airport say the biggest draw is convenience.
"The airport itself is much smaller, so the terminals are more accessible," said Nicolas Johnson.
For some travelers, that convenience means skipping the drive to Denver.
"Time's valuable and driving to Denver, it's a jaunt," said Cheryl Smith.
Still, some passengers say they want more affordable options closer to home.
"I would like more budget airline options, so the Spirit, the Frontier," said Johnson.
Jon Jager, Air Service Development Manager at the Colorado Springs Airport, says if flights already operating out of the airport don't fill up, it can mean fewer low-cost options in the future.
"Think of Denver like Costco and us, like the neighborhood convenience store," said Jager.
That difference is reflected in traveler behavior .
“Those are called our catchment passengers," said Jager. "Of those catchment passengers, people that live in these zip codes that should fly from here, about 60% still drive and fly out of Denver.”
When airlines like Spirit struggle or disappear, he says it can tighten competition across the industry, including budget carriers like Allegiant Air, which currently flies select routes out of Colorado Springs, and Frontier, an airline that has been in and out of the airport over the years.
“If a route is not almost instantly profitable when it launches and not wildly profitable, it could just be marginally profitable to begin with. They're gonna look to move that airplane somewhere else,” said Jager.
Rising fuel costs are also making airlines more cautious about where they operate.
"If I'm making $5,000 in revenue from ticket sales on a flight, but I'm paying $7,000 to fuel that plane, and to pay my pilots and flight attendants and all of that, that's a money losing flight,” said Jager.
The airport continues to actively recruit new carriers to expand its offerings.
"I requested meetings with about 12 to 15 airlines…" said Jager.
But Jager says attracting and keeping those airlines ultimately depends on local travelers choosing to fly from Colorado Springs.
"A business will succeed if they have customers that will support them," said Jager.
While Spirit's shutdown did not directly impact Colorado Springs, it highlights a broader trend, fewer budget options nationwide could make it harder to grow low-cost flights locally.
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