Frontier may be positioning itself to take over space once used by the now-defunct Spirit Airlines at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
According to The Detroit News, the Wayne County Airport Authority recently confirmed that Frontier requested access to Spirit’s former space in the airport’s Warren Evans Terminal.
It was not clear how much space or how many gates Frontier could be looking to lease.
Following Spirit’s collapse in May, Frontier said it would add routes and flights across 18 former Spirit markets. In Detroit, the carrier restarted service to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Las Vegas, routes which had been operated by Spirit.
Frontier declined to comment on the issue of terminal space at Detroit but told AirlineGeeks that it is evaluating its network to determine possible future route additions and anticipates increased capacity at Detroit starting in July and continuing through the winter.
“Having a robust Frontier presence in Detroit is extremely important to ensure tourists and local residents continue to have access to low fares,” the airline said in a statement. “The presence of low-fare carriers in a market forces competition among airlines and reduces the cost of flying for consumers overall, and we look forward to being the new value airline of choice.”
Besides Las Vegas and Fort Lauderdale, Spirit also connected Detroit to Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, and New York-LaGuardia, among other destinations.
