Frontier Airlines is embarking on another round of expansion. This time, Cancun, Mexico, and Tampa, Florida, are the big winners. All of the routes are scheduled to launch this winter and give leisure customers in the northern US more ways to escape to warm-weather destinations.

Six new routes to Cancun

Cancun International Airport (CUN) in Mexico is a top destination for winter-weary travelers in the United States. Frontier will fly to Cancun from six more US airports:

  • Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) with daily flights from December 16th
  • Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) with three weekly flights from December 16th
  • Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport (MSP) with daily flights from December 16th
  • Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) with four weekly flights from December 17th
  • John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) with two weekly flights from January 21st
  • Raleigh/Durham International Airport (RDU) with Saturday-only flights from January 22nd

All routes are subject to government approval. Frontier may change dates and frequencies of launch depending on demand.

Frontier's new routes out of Cancun. Rendering created at Great Circle Mapper

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Tampa gets five more routes

Tampa International Airport (TPA) will see service to five more domestic destinations this winter. They are:

  • Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport (ROC) with four weekly flights from November 30th
  • New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA) with three weekly flights from December 1st
  • Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport (GRB) with two weekly flights from December 16th
  • Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal (BMI) with two weekly flights from December 17th
  • John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) with three weekly flights from December 17th
Frontier's new Tampa routes. Rendering created at Great Circle Mapper

Daniel Shurz, senior vice president of commercial at Frontier, stated the following:

“We’re excited to grow in our newest base city, Tampa, with five new nonstop routes beginning right in time for the winter travel season. Tampa continues to shine, literally and figuratively, as a destination people want to visit, especially in the winter months. Moreover, this new service is a convenient, affordable option for Tampa Bay residents to take a trip and explore historic U.S. cities, including Columbus and New York City.”

Tampa became a base for Frontier earlier this year. With that announcement, growth from Frontier was imminent, especially considering its large backlog of Airbus A320neo aircraft and some more A321s that offer low costs and the right efficiency to make many of these smaller destinations work with a low-frequency model.

Frontier will see some competition

On the following routes, Frontier will see competition from these airlines, per data from Cirium.

  • BOS-CUN: American Airlines (Saturday-only), JetBlue, and Delta Air Lines
  • DTW-CUN: Delta Air Lines and Spirit Airlines
  • MSP-CUN: Delta Air Lines and Sun Country Airlines
  • BWI-CUN: Spirit Airlines and Southwest Airlines
  • CMH-CUN: American and Southwest with Saturday-only flying from mid-December onwards
  • RDU-CUN: American Airlines and JetBlue
  • TPA-ROC: Southwest Airlines Saturday-only from mid-December
  • TPA-LGA: JetBlue, Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines
  • TPA-CMH: Breeze Airways, Spirit Airlines, and Southwest Airlines
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

Nine out of the eleven routes will see competition, and save for Columbus-Cancun and Tampa-Rochester, almost every competitor will be flying more than Frontier.

Frontier's model is low-cost, peak-day flying. The airline typically flies only a few flights a week on most routes, save for some more popular routes. This allows it to enter smaller markets like Green Bay or Bloomington and connect them to popular destinations without offering too much capacity in a market that does not need it.

Frontier has been successful in other competitive markets. This includes major ones like Denver. While it will sell some connections, what is more important for the airline is point-to-point travel, which these routes are categorized as.

Are you going to fly any of these new Frontier routes? Let us know in the comments!