Frontier goes head-to-head on a staple Southwest route

Frontier Airlines just announced a new route between two of Southwest Airlines' biggest bases.

The Denver-based ultra-low-cost carrier unveiled plans on Tuesday to connect Denver (DEN) with Houston Hobby (HOU) beginning Sept. 7.

Frontier will operate once-daily flights between the two cities, with intro fares starting at $69 for the one-way travel (excluding ancillary services, such as bags and seat assignments).

Frontier's new Denver-to-Houston Hobby flight will join the carrier's existing service from the Mile High City to the larger George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston, which already operates on an up-to-daily frequency.

Frontier's decision to start serving Houston's secondary airport from Denver is based on strong demand, according to Daniel Shurz, the carrier's senior vice president of commercial. "There is strong consumer demand for flights between these two destinations and consumers can now enjoy the convenience and affordability of Frontier's 'Low Fares Done Right.," Shurz said in a statement.

Frontier last connected Denver and the William P. Hobby airport in July 2012, according to Cirum schedules, so the carrier seems to believe there's enough demand to warrant adding flights between the two airports once again.

Southwest has been the only airline in the market for the past decade, offering up to eight daily flights between the two airports.

Back in 2019, Southwest commanded an average gross fare of $137 for flights between Denver and Hobby and that number dropped to $99 for 2021, according to Department of Transportation data analyzed by Cirium. Southwest enplaned over 225,000 passengers on the route in 2019 and just over 175,000 in 2021.

Without any other competitors, Frontier could see an opportunity to muscle in and take some of the existing market share between the two cities, possibly by undercutting the competition with its low base fares.

Daily Newsletter

Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter

Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts

Email address

Sign up

By signing up, you will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

Related: Frontier adds 2 new airports in 13-route expansion

In fact, that seems to be what's been happening on the route between Denver and Houston Intercontinental.

Both Frontier and Spirit, the nation's two largest ultra-low-cost carriers, operate the route with average gross fares of $34 and $42 in 2021, respectively.

Compared to the $143 average fare that United charges and $104 that Southwest charges, these discounters aim to attract more customers with their lower fares. (Note that these figures exclude additional ancillaries, such as bags and seat assignments.)

Frontier's presence in Hobby is growing to four nonstop routes with the addition of Denver. Earlier this year, the carrier (re)added the airport to its route map, with three routes that all commenced in late May.

In addition to Denver, Frontier flies from Hobby to Cancun (CUN), Las Vegas (LAS) and Orlando (MCO).