BREAKING: Frontier adds flights to 7 cities from CLT
BREAKING: Frontier adds flights to 7 cities from CLT
Low-fare airline moves up to No. 2 in destinations from Charlotte, with flights to 13 U.S. cities
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Low-fare carrier Frontier Airlines will fly nonstops to 13 cities from Charlotte, becoming No. 2 airline by destinations; focusing on ‘overpriced routes’
by Ted Reed
Low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines said Tuesday that it will begin flights from Charlotte to seven new destinations this spring, creating new opportunities for lower fares at the generally high-priced airport.
With 13 total destinations, Frontier will become the No. 2 carrier at Charlotte Douglas in terms of destinations served. It still lags hub carrier American Airlines, which flies to about 160 destinations from Charlotte, which is American’s second-largest hub.
Frontier said it will begin flights to:
New York LaGuardia (starting in April)
Chicago O’Hare (starting in April)
Dallas (starting in April)
Houston (starting in April)
Baltimore (starting in April)
Buffalo, N.Y. (starting in May)
San Juan, Puerto Rico (starting in June)
Fare sale starts at $19: Of the new routes, Baltimore, LaGuardia and San Juan will have daily service. Buffalo, Chicago, Dallas and Houston will operate three times a week. Introductory fares will begin at $19 on six of the routes, with a $69 introductory fare on the San Juan route.
From Charlotte, the carrier already serves Cleveland, Denver, Las Vegas, Orlando, Philadelphia and Trenton. With the addition of the new cities, Frontier will surpass Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which each have seven destinations from CLT, according to the airport. [Edited 1/23/23 to correct number of destinations]
“We are introducing a wide range of exciting new destinations from Charlotte as part of our new focus on underserved and underpriced routes,” said Josh Flyr, Frontier vice president for network and operations design, in a prepared statement issued Tuesday.
Extra fees: As a low-fare carrier, Frontier charges extra fees for just about everything, including selecting seats, carrying on bags and checking bags — though many legacy airlines now do the same thing.
Will CLT fares drop?
Frontier’s expansion could help lower some fares out of Charlotte, where prices have been historically high.
Of the 30 U.S. airports with the most originating passengers, Charlotte had the highest average round-trip airfare in the third quarter of 2023, at $423, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation. That edged out San Francisco ($419) and Salt Lake City ($414).
Airfares tend to be higher out of Charlotte compared with elsewhere because a higher share of passengers are business travelers and American Airlines has no competition on many routes. As American’s second-largest hub, Charlotte also has flights to more nonstop destinations than most cities its size.
No fare match? Although major airlines like American, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines used to drop fares to match those of low-fare competitors, they seem not to do that as much anymore. For instance, a round-trip nonstop next month between Charlotte and Denver was going for $98 this morning on Frontier, while United was charging $269 and American was charging $287.
The low-fare U.S. airline segment is undergoing turmoil: A federal judge last week disallowed a planned merger between JetBlue and Spirit Airlines. Denver-based Frontier appears more stable: It operates 134 A320 aircraft and has more than 210 new Airbus planes on order.
Ted Reed covers the airport and airlines for The Ledger. He is a former Miami Herald and Charlotte Observer reporter. His latest book is Kenny Riley and Black Union Labor Power in the Port of Charleston.
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