Spirit Airlines, the fastest-growing commercial air carrier at McCarran International Airport last year, expanded earnings and had 26.7 percent higher revenue for the fourth quarter to wrap up a profitable year.
The Miramar, Fla.-based airline, which this month opened a crew base at McCarran and added two daily flights to Mesa, Ariz., from Las Vegas, reported earnings of $23.9 million, 33 cents a share, on revenue of $273.9 million for the quarter that ended Dec. 31.
The results beat analysts' expectations by 1 cent a share.
A year earlier, Spirit had earnings of $13.7 million, 19 cents a share, on revenue of $216.2 million.
Increased flying, especially to the company's new routes from Las Vegas to Portland, Ore., Los Angeles, San Diego and Oakland, Calif., were responsible for much of the company's growth. The company also added a route between Las Vegas and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in the last year.
Earnings climbed despite a 21.5 percent increase in fuel expenses for the company over last year.
"Our ultra low-cost structure, combined with our customer-empowering optional pricing structure, allows us to offer the low fares that customers have come to expect while delivering strong margins for our stockholders," Spirit President and CEO Ben Baldanza said in a statement accompanying Thursday's posting of earnings.
The company was expected to have a conference call with investment analysts later Thursday.