Frontier Airlines has continued its aggressive network expansion as travel across the United States continues to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline has introduced eight new routes across the country, including adding the state of Alaska to its route map. All new routes will start in early June and feature popular leisure destinations for travelers looking to get away.

Of the new routes, four will be to cities not currently served by Frontier, with the remaining new routes operating between larger cities in the carrier’s route map. The new destinations added to the route map include Anchorage, Alaska; Durango, Colo.; Grand Junction, Colo. and Kalispell Mont. 

New Denver Routes

The carrier has previously served Alaska, operating seasonal flights between Anchorage and Denver until October 2014. The resumption of the route will operate seasonally during the summer starting on June 9, 2021. Flights will operate twice per week between Colorado’s capital and the largest city in Alaska. Frontier will face competition from Alaska Airlines, who had previously announced service between the cities beginning on June 17, 2021.

Along with service to a new state, Frontier will return to intra-Colorado service for the first time since 2014. The airline operated seasonal flights between Durango and Denver before pulling the route and leaving itself without service within its home state. Flights from Denver to Durango will operate 4x weekly starting on June 4th. Just four days later, the Denver-based carrier will start flights from Denver to Grand Junction on a thrice-weekly basis, adding a second route to its intrastate network.

Other Route Additions

In a press release from the airline, Senior Vice President of Commercial Daniel Shurz said, “Summer 2021 is quickly approaching, and we’re excited to expand our network with eight new routes beginning in June. We’re listening to our customers and adding routes to popular summer destinations known for their sun-filled activities.”

The airline has been quite aggressive with route additions in the past few weeks, taking full advantage of increased demand of leisure travelers. Increased demand, coupled with its network strategy, allows the airline to add more routes while using fewer aircraft than traditional hub-and-spoke carriers. Pre-COVID many carriers operated a similar schedule nearly everyday of the week, but Frontier often flies routes on a less-than-daily-basis, allowing for additional routes to be served where there is not demand for a daily flight.

Frontier did release a map of the new routes, but the map included a route between Las Vegas and Ontario, not Dallas/Fort Worth and Ontario. This was a mistake, as Frontier has been operating flights between Las Vegas and Ontario since February.