It'll be the first time Frontier has served Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, although Montego Bay, especially good for accessing beaches, has been part of its route network since July 2012. It'll also be the first time Miami to Kingston has had low-cost competition, with American Airlines retaining a monopoly on the route since Air Jamaica ended it in February 2009.

Of course, it is not this straightforward. Nearby Fort Lauderdale has had much more competition and choice to Kingston for years. It is helped by the large Jamaican diaspora – crucial for the market – being located nearer to the airport than to Miami. Spirit, Frontier's suitor, has served Fort Lauderdale-Kingston since November 2005, while Caribbean Airlines added it in January 2011 and JetBlue in April 2012.

Frontier to Kingston

Frontier will add the new 586-mile (942km) route on May 5th, with flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. It has the following schedule, with all times local. The block time is just under two hours outbound and just over two hours back.

  • Miami to Kingston: F9177, 08:00-08:51
  • Kingston to Miami: F9176, 09:56-13:00
Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-351N N366FR
Kingston adds to Frontier's four-weekly Miami-Montego Bay service. Not surprisingly, Kingston will operate on the days that Montego Bay doesn't. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

Stay aware: Sign up for my weekly new routes newsletter.

Against a twice-daily American service

In the week it takes off, it'll compete head-to-head with a twice-weekly B737-800 service by American Airlines. The pair of carriers do, of course, target different passengers. Frontier is enormously (but not wholly) about local point-to-point demand, which it'll hope to grow, while large numbers of American's passengers transit its huge Miami hub.

In 2019, the last year to reflect normality, American carried 278,384 passengers on the route, according to the DOT's T-100 dataset. It had a seat load factor of 78.6%.

Booking data suggests that approximately six in ten passengers transited Miami to/from Kingston, with Orlando, Washington National, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Boston the most significant markets.

Frontier's Miami network Mar-Nov 2022
The white shows Frontier's Miami network between March and August, with the new route to Kingston in orange. The yellow indicates the routes that Spirit would bring to the merger, as Frontier doesn't operate them. Photo: GCMap.

Frontier's 31st route from Miami

Kingston is Frontier's 31st route from Miami, based on analyzing the ULCC's schedule between March and August this year. However, Chicago O'Hare ends on March 6th and San Jose (Costa Rica) on April 23rd, but both will still be non-stop with Spirit.

Frontier added Miami to its network in December 2014, but little changed until mid-2021. And now, between March and August, it'll be the South Florida airport's fifth-largest airline by departures, behind American, Delta, Spirit, and United. It has a relatively small presence – just 3.3% of departures – which will rise to over 7% if its merger with Spirit is approved. Together, they'd be Miami's second-largest operator.

Frontier and Spirit at Miami
Spirit was almost immediately the larger of the pair in Miami. Source of data: Cirium.

Cancún is Frontier's most-served route

The short, 531-mile (855km) link to the Mexican tourist hotspot of Cancún is Frontier's leading Miami route by departures between March and August. While Cancún has done phenomenally well during the pandemic, it is perhaps surprising that it has two-thirds more outbound flights than second-placed Philadelphia. That's for one reason: from April 27th, Cancún will twice-daily.

  • Cancun: 311 Miami departures
  • Philadelphia: 188
  • Orlando: 185
  • Denver: 184
  • Las Vegas: 184
  • San Juan: 182
  • Atlanta: 181
  • Nassau: 150
  • Punta Cana: 143
  • Baltimore: 136

Have you flown Frontier recently? Share your experiences in the comments.