Frontier doubles down on Ohio with 14 new routes
Another week, another round of route announcements from Frontier Airlines.
After unveiling dozens of new flights in recent weeks as part of an apparent strategy shift in 2024, the Denver-based ultra-low-cost carrier is honing in on the Midwest.
In the last 24 hours, Frontier has revealed plans to scale up its presence at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).
On Wednesday, Frontier announced eight new routes out of Cleveland, all to launch this spring. Those are on top of two new routes the carrier unveiled last month.
Among the routes included in Frontier's buildup in northeast Ohio are flights to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY), Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) and Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC).
The announcement comes a day after Frontier also announced a half-dozen new destinations it will serve from Cincinnati's airport, which sits just over the border in Kentucky.
New destinations from Cincinnati include Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Portland International Jetport (PWM) in Maine and Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT).
All of the new routes launch this spring.
Route shake-up continues
Frontier's heightened focus in Ohio is just the latest example of the carrier shifting some of its focus away from prominent leisure travel markets.
Warm-weather vacation cities like Orlando and Las Vegas have long been a stalwart of the budget airline business model. However, those cities have, in some ways, fallen out of favor with some carriers in recent months amid surging capacity that's driven down fares and made winning over customers more competitive.
On the company's earnings call last week, Frontier CEO Barry Biffle said the airline is shifting some of its focus to markets where it can attract travelers who may be flying to visit family and friends but not necessarily vacationing.
That network shake-up has seen the airline unveil dozens of new routes in recent weeks, including several from (and in some cases between) larger carriers' biggest hubs.
During the second quarter of 2024, Frontier will offer 79% more seats out of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Frontier's Q2 seats from Charlotte will be up 72% from Q2 of 2023, with seats up 92% from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) and up 127% from New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA).
At the same time, its second-quarter seats will drop 11% out of Orlando International Airport (MCO), 30% out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and 17% from Cancun International Airport (CUN), Cirium data shows.
That said, there are a handful of new routes the airline is clearly launching with leisure travelers in mind, including a few new flights to Florida and another to a popular East Coast beach destination.
Frontier's new Cincinnati routes
Here's the full rundown of Frontier's newly announced routes out of Cincinnati:
- Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) — starts May 16; operates four times weekly
- CVG to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) — starts May 16; operates four times weekly
- CVG to George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston — starts May 17; operates four times weekly
- CVG to Portland International Jetport (PWM) in Maine — starts May 21; operates three times weekly
- CVG to Pensacola International Airport (PNS) in Florida — starts May 21; operates three times weekly
- CVG to Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) — starts May 16; operates four times weekly
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These are almost entirely new routes for Frontier, with one exception: It previously flew between Cincinnati and Fort Lauderdale before the coronavirus pandemic, with the most recent such flights flown in 2020, Cirium shows.
In addition to these six routes, Frontier previously announced new service to LGA and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) out of Cincinnati to start in April and May, respectively.
This certainly represents a big step up in Cincinnati for Frontier. This summer, its daily departures will be up 57% over last year, the airline shared Tuesday. All told, it will serve a total of 20 nonstop destinations from northern Kentucky.
Frontier's new Cleveland routes
Here's the full list of Frontier's new routes out of Cleveland:
- Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) to George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston — starts May 17; operates four times weekly
- CLE to Jacksonville International Airport (JAX) in Florida — starts May 22; operates four times weekly
- CLE to Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) in South Carolina — starts May 21; operates three times weekly
- CLE to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) — starts May 16; operates three times weekly
- CLE to Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) in Georgia — starts May 16; operates three times weekly
- CLE to Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) — starts May 16; operates three times weekly
- CLE to Pensacola International Airport (PNS) in Florida — starts May 16; operates three times weekly
- CLE to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) — starts May 16; operates three times weekly
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That's on top of Frontier's MSP and LGA route the airline announced last month.
Though most of these routes are new, Frontier has some history on a couple of them. It previously flew from Cleveland to Houston years ago in 2017, according to Cirium data. Frontier also operated a Cleveland-to-Austin route before the pandemic in 2019.
After launching these routes, Frontier will serve a total of 30 destinations from Cleveland, with daily departures this summer up 38% compared to last year, the airline reported.
That Frontier would choose to increase its footprint in Cleveland is not terribly surprising considering it announced plans last fall to open a new crew base in the city. That base, Biffle said Wednesday, will open in March.
"Our growth in Cleveland is soaring," Biffle said in a statement, noting the base will help support the airline's "rapidly growing operations" there.
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