US low-fare carrier Frontier Airlines has revealed plans to further expand its network from its soon to open Trenton Mercer Airport base. The carrier only inaugurated flights from the facility to Orlando on November 16, 2012 but confirms it will add new flights to a further five cities from April this year - Atlanta, Chicago-Midway, Columbus, Detroit and Raleigh/Durham. The latest expansion comes just over six weeks after the carrier revealed its original plan to establish a mini base in New Jersey’s state capital by positioning a single 138-seat Airbus A319 at Trenton from the end of this month.
Frontier is the only scheduled operator from the airport, which is the sixth busiest in New Jersey and which alongside serving central New Jersey, also has a catchment that stretches into southeast Pennsylvania. In the past both Delta Air Lines and US Airways have served the facility, formerly known as Mercer County Airport.
The US carrier will launch the new services from April 8, 2013 with six times weekly flights to Chicago/Midway and Raleigh-Durham; a four times weekly connection to both Atlanta and Detroit and a three times weekly offering to Port Columbus. Only Atlanta has been previously served from the New Jersey airport with Comair operating a daily Bombardier CRJ200 rotation to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for Delta Air Lines between December 2006 and June 2007.
“This is a great day for us at Frontier as we bring significantly more low-fare options to the Princeton/Trenton area, providing a time and money saving option to customers throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania,” said Daniel Shurz, Senior Vice President, Commercial, Frontier Airlines. “Customers who fly from Trenton can now skip the congested and expensive alternative hubs in the region and enjoy quick, convenient, low-fare travel.”
Frontier begins the first stage of expansion at Trenton Mercer Airport on January 31, 2013 when it introduces a three times weekly link to Tampa, with twice weekly flights to New Orleans following on February 1, 2013 and twice weekly and three times weekly schedules to Fort Myers and Fort Lauderdale following from February 2,2013, respectively. The low-cost carrier will also double its capacity on the current link to Orlando from two to four weekly rotations from February 1, 2013. None of these four destinations has previously been served from the airport.
According to Mercer County Executive Brian M Hughes, Frontier is the “right partner at the right time” for the region and he said he was “thrilled” at the carrier’s latest expansion. “The Greater Mercer County region, with more than two million people in a 25-mile radius, is truly an untapped market, and we are pleased Frontier joins us in recognising its value. With ten destinations to different parts of the country, Frontier offers people in and around Mercer County convenient and affordable travel opportunities that they’ve never had before,” he added.
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