Frontier Airlines to start offering flights from Syracuse to four cities

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Denver, Colorado–based Frontier Airlines is coming to Syracuse and will offer nonstop flights from Hancock International Airport to Denver, Raleigh–Durham, Chicago, and Orlando beginning this summer.

Frontier, which describes itself as a “low-cost” air carrier, announced the upcoming air service during an event Wednesday at Syracuse Hancock International Airport.

The airline’s service from Syracuse to both Denver and Raleigh–Durham begins in July, while the nonstop service to Chicago and Orlando will start in August.

Frontier isn’t offering daily flights, according to its news release. The flights to and from Denver, Raleigh–Durham, and Orlando will be available on Mondays and Fridays.

The flights to and from Chicago will be offered Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, the airline said.

In his remarks at the Wednesday event, Rick Zeni, chief information officer for Frontier Airlines, called it a “low fare” airline and a “growth” airline.

“We are buying airplanes and we are looking for places that will respond to low fares,” said Zeni. “When we look at Syracuse and the historical service here and how the airport is served now, we are really highly confident that the low fares that we’re going to bring in to this community are going to really take hold.”

“Never in the history of the airport have we provided direct service to Denver and Raleigh-Durham, and to secure these new markets, along with additional service to Chicago and Orlando — this is a new day for the airport,” Christina Callahan, executive director of Syracuse Hancock International Airport, said in the Frontier news release.

In speaking with reporters after the Wednesday announcement, Callahan said Frontier is “eligible for our normal incentives, which we offer to any airline that meets the requirements.” Those incentives include a combination of waivers on various fees and charges and assistance with marketing and advertising, she added in response to the BJNN question about any enticements that the Syracuse airport may have offered Frontier Airlines.

Callahan believes a “combination” of factors prompted Frontier’s decision to offer service at Hancock, including market demand.

“Denver being the second highest unserved market in the country for our airport was definitely one of the driving factors,” said Callahan.

She also noted that Orlando is the “most popular destination” from Hancock, considering the “high number of snowbirds” who travel to Florida on a regular basis.

In her remarks during the announcement, Callahan said the airport’s relationship with Frontier started in 2010 during the annual JumpStart Air Service Development Conference.

“We met with Frontier at what is known in the airline industry as speed dating with airlines … We had 20 minutes to sell our airport to Frontier,” said Callahan.

She went on to note that sometimes on a first date, “things don’t go well. So, we kept trying and we kept trying and here we are.”

Frontier is offering special introductory, one-way fares as low as $29 “to celebrate the introduction of these flights,” according to a company news release. Fares must be purchased by 11:59 p.m. on Friday night for nonstop travel, Frontier said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com