Frontier Airlines adds 3 more routes from Philadelphia
Frontier Airlines is adding three new routes from Philadelphia this spring amid broader plans to grow by double-digits in 2020.
The Denver-based ultra-low-cost carrier will add seasonal nonstop flights between Philadelphia (PHL) and Boston (BOS), Chicago O'Hare and Los Angeles (LAX), Frontier unveiled Wednesday. The Boston and Los Angeles routes will feature daily service while and the Chicago route will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
Frontier will begin Boston flights on May 1, Chicago flights on May 17 and Los Angeles flights on April 23. All of the routes will be flown with Airbus A320-family jets.
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Boston and Los Angeles are both new destinations for Frontier in Philadelphia, according to Cirium schedule data. The airline flew the Chicago-Philadelphia route in 2015 and 2016. All together, Frontier will serve 24 destinations year-round and seasonal from the airport.
The new Frontier service comes Philadelphia (PHL) has seen growth from other discounters during the past year.
"We are excited that Frontier is continuing this trend by adding Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston flights to their PHL schedule," Chellie Cameron, CEO of Philadelphia's airport, said in a statement. "Passengers, businesses and our regional economy benefit when our airline partners offer more flights to more cities."
Frontier, and other budget carriers, helped propel Philadelphia to what Cameron expects to be record passenger numbers in 2019, she told TPG earlier in January. The airport is on track to see more than 33 million travelers pass through its gates for the year.
Related: American hub, discounter growth push Philadelphia airport toward record year
Philadelphia saw seats grow on Frontier by 26% year-over-year in 2019, Cirium shows. Seats on Spirit Airlines, which is also growing rapidly, were up 35%, and on JetBlue Airways by 11%.
The airport is also home to a large American Airlines hub, which will add its — and the airport's — first nonstop to Africa in June.
Frontier will compete with American on all three of its new Philadelphia routes, according to Cirium. Delta Air Lines and JetBlue also fly to Boston while United Airlines flies from Philadelphia to Chicago O'Hare. Southwest Airlines flies from Philadelphia to Chicago Midway (MDW) and Spirit Airlines to Los Angeles.
The unveiling of Frontier's new Philadelphia routes comes a day after it announced a return to New Castle Airport (ILG) in nearby Wilmington, Delaware. The airline — which will be the only carrier to fly from the airport — will resume thrice-weekly service between Wilmington and Orlando (MCO) in May after a five-year hiatus. That service will end Delaware's run as the only state without regularly scheduled commercial airline service.
Related: Frontier Airlines to double in size over next five years
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