Fontier Airlines Increases Options from Kansas City

Republic Airways Holdings’ subsidiary Frontier Airlines has confirmed the introduction of a seasonal service between Kansas City and Orlando from January next year. The new route will be launched on January 5, 2012 and will operate until April 15, 2012. There will initially be four flights per week, increasing to six from February 23, 2012; all operated by 99-seat Embraer 190s.

The airline will compete directly with Southwest Airlines on the route. The budget carrier already offers at least two flights per day although with an estimated 333,000 O&D passengers travelling between the two cities in the past year there is clear demand for additional flights.

The new service increases Frontier Airlines’ offering from Kansas City to 19 destinations. It is the fourth largest operator from the US city with around 10.3 per cent of the seat capacity on offer during November when it will operate over 130 weekly flights providing almost 150,000 seats from Kansas City. On November 1 it will inaugurate services between Kansas City and Las Vegas and even before its launch the carrier has already upgraded the route from a 99-seat E190 to a 138-seat Airbus A319 due to demand.

Away from Kansas City, Frontier Airlines will also launch two new routes from Washington Reagan at the start of next year, with services to Grand Rapids and Madison. Both flights will be operated using Airbus A319s and will be flown three times weekly. The airline already has links to both destinations from its Denver base and also serves Grand Rapids from Milwaukee.

Delta Air Lines already provides six times weekly flights to Grand Rapids and Madison from Washington Reagan with its regional partners. These services are mainly targeting business passengers flying to Washington or connecting on to other destinations in the US or across the globe and Frontier Airlines arrival with larger Airbus equipment will inevitably lead to lower fares on the routes, stimulating demand further.

“Our new nonstop service to Washington Reagan provides Grand Rapids and Madison travellers the choice of flying a large jet on their travels to our nation’s capital,” explained Daniel Shurz, Vice President of Strategy and Planning, Frontier Airlines.

An estimated 29,000 O&D passengers travelled between Grand Rapids and Washington Reagan in the past year, each paying an average $241 each way, while 49,000 O&D passengers travelled between Madison and Washington Reagan, paying an estimated $218 in each direction.

Frontier Airlines is also to make some amendments to its network in several markets during the first quarter of 2012. This includes the closure of its Milwaukee - Pittsburgh service from January 4, 2012; the seasonal suspension of Milwaukee - Boston services for the first quarter of 2012; and other frequency and day-of-week adjustments.

“In these times of continuing high fuel prices, we’re continuing to fine-tune our schedules to match capacity to demand in what is historically the weakest travel quarter of the year,” Shurz said. “These adjustments, along with other recent schedule changes, are part of Frontier’s ongoing efforts to return the airline to sustained profitability.”