HEBRON, Ky. -- Frontier Airlines announced service to three new cities from the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport on Tuesday, further bolstering its roster of seasonal flights from the region.
The low-cost carrier, a growing staple here since 2013, will add Minneapolis, New York-LaGuardia and San Diego to its route map, pitting itself against the likes of legacy carriers Delta and American in two of those markets.
The new services will arrive in spring.
*Drumrolllll* @FlyFrontier will now fly to NYC, San Diego and Minneapolis! @WCPO pic.twitter.com/kNkzmucBvM
— Kristen Swilley (@KristenSwilley) January 31, 2017
Currently, there's no nonstop service from CVG to San Diego. Delta made cuts there in 2015.
Frontier, with the moves, becomes CVG's fourth-largest carrier in terms of daily flights, and the second-largest in terms of seats offered.
"The growth of Frontier at CVG over the last three and a half years has been incredible,” said Candace McGraw, chief executive officer at CVG. "This success would not have been possible without the support of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky community."
Fares to LaGuardia are posted as low as $39 each way; it's also an increasingly crowded destination from CVG. Delta flies there six times daily, while American has three. Another player should help drive ticket cost down. Frontier plans to fly it daily.
Minneapolis is a Delta hub. It offers flights there seven times daily. Frontier will offer rates as low as $29 one way. Flights will run Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.
San Diego is considered a key target city for CVG, ever since Delta ceased flights in recent years. Nonstop service starts May 16 and runs Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. All three destinations will be served by 150-seat A319 or 180-seat A320 aircraft.
All told, that puts Frontier at 93 flights per week at CVG during the spring/summer season – a more than 60-percent increase over last year - quelling any concern that the airline has hit its peak in the market.
Frontier will also expand service to two popular California locales, San Francisco and Los Angeles (LAX), flying those routes daily versus three or four days a week, as reported exclusively by WCPO.com. It's also bringing back seasonal service to Houston, Dallas, Atlanta and Philadelphia in May, CVG officials said.
"In conversations with their folks, everything's doing well out of Cincinnati," said Adam Kressler, CVG's director of air service development. "This market has embraced them wholeheartedly."
