Virgin America begins Dallas routes

Virgin America began flights to Dallas on Wednesday, the first mid-continent route for the airline.

The service began with a Dallas-to-Los Angeles route. A Dallas-to-San Francisco route starts Dec. 6.

Dallas is the carrier’s twelfth city across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

By entering Dallas, Virgin America will spark a battle with American Airlines, which operates about three-fourths of the flights through DFW.

Virgin America said it wanted to start Dallas service to attract business travelers, a coveted group in the airline industry because they tend to book last minute flights and pay higher fares.

On a growth push, Virgin America said it plans to expand to three to four new cities annually until 2016.