Frontier Airlines will limit its winter schedule from Trenton/Mercer County Airport to Florida destinations as the low-fare carrier focuses on Florida, the Planet Princeton hyperlocal website reported.
The spring and summer schedule will be announced at a later data, although flights to Minneapolis-St. Paul will be no more.
The New Jersey airport, at least until now, had survived a shift in strategy by Frontier under new owner Indigo Partners.
Taking a page from its previous investment in Spirit Airlines, Frontier has shifted planes to larger airports, including Philadelphia. It has also moved away from offering flights a few days a week and instead manages to come up with one or two daily flights. In Philly, the carrier is adding two daily flights to Denver.
That change, along with the claim that the company was not making money at New Castle Airport, was cited by the carrier in is decision to drop service earlier this year. It remains to be seen if the same thing will happen at Trenton, which is further away from Philadelphia and can pick up some passengers who might fly out of Newark.
In the meantime, figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation, report Frontier to be solidly profitable, as it trims operating costs and more importantly enjoys lower fuel prices.
The lower fuel prices more than make up for, the higher landing fees at airports like Philly.
Minneapolis St. Paul service from Baltimore
Meanwhile, at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Southwest will add two daily nonstop flights to Minneapolis-St. Paul this spring. The carrier had offered one-stop and connecting service.
The Minnesota airport is a fortress hub for Delta Airlines, which has been able to maintain high fares to and from the airport.
Delta has been feeling the heat from deep discounters and plans to roll out lower fares with even fewer frills to lure passengers away from Spirit and Frontier.
Southwest is building an international presence at the Maryland Airport with flights to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Feeding those flights through non-stops from Minnesota, and other destinations may be part of the airline’s strategy.
BWI is finally seeing more international service with German carrier Condor beefing up service next summer and British Airways adding the state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner next year to its London schedule.
Norwegian Air is adding service to the French Caribbean this winter from Baltimore-Washington International and plans to fly to Europe next year.
