Frontier doubles down on Ohio with 14 new routes

14.02.2024 - 20:51 / thepointsguy.com / Barry Biffle / Airlines

Another week, another round of route announcements from Frontier Airlines.

After unveiling dozens of new flights in recent weeks as part of an apparent strategy shift in 2024, the Denver-based ultra-low-cost carrier is honing in on the Midwest.

In the last 24 hours, Frontier has revealed plans to scale up its presence at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).

On Wednesday, Frontier announced eight new routes out of Cleveland, all to launch this spring. Those are on top of two new routes the carrier unveiled last month.

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Among the routes included in Frontier's buildup in northeast Ohio are flights to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY), Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) and Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC).

The announcement comes a day after Frontier also announced a half-dozen new destinations it will serve from Cincinnati's airport, which sits just over the border in Kentucky.

New destinations from Cincinnati include Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Portland International Jetport (PWM) in Maine and Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT).

All of the new routes launch this spring.

Frontier's heightened focus in Ohio is just the latest example of the carrier shifting some of its focus away from prominent leisure travel markets.

Warm-weather vacation cities like Orlando and Las Vegas have long been a stalwart of the budget airline business model. However, those cities have, in some ways, fallen out of favor with some carriers in recent months amid surging capacity that's driven down fares and made winning over customers more competitive.

On the company's earnings call last week, Frontier CEO Barry Biffle said the airline is shifting some of its focus to markets where it can attract travelers who may be flying to visit family and friends but not necessarily vacationing.

That network shake-up has seen the airline unveil dozens of new routes in recent weeks, including several from (and in some cases between) larger carriers' biggest hubs.

During the second quarter of 2024, Frontier will offer 79% more seats out of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

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Frontier's Q2 seats from Charlotte will be up 72% from Q2 of 2023, with seats up 92% from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) and up 127% from New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA).

At the same time, its second-quarter seats will drop 11% out of