11:54am | Mere months after it arrived, a commercial airline carrier that offers service to and from Long Beach Airport has announced that it plans to discontinue those flights later this month.
Frontier Airlines, based in Denver, began offering twice-daily nonstop flights between Denver International Airport and Long Beach Airport last May. The airline plans to cease offering the flights effective April 18, according to Long Beach Aiport’s website.
This will decrease the number of airlines offering service from Long Beach to five. The remaining airlines are Allegiant, Alaska/Horizon, Delta, JetBlue and U.S. Airways.
Frontier also offers flights from Los Angeles International and John Wayne airports, which will not be affected, the Denver Business Journal reported.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings Inc., Frontier last month added to its list of nonstop destinations from its Denver hub, launching direct flights to Knoxville, Tenn., Provo, Utah, and Sioux Falls, S.D.
According to information obtained on Frontier’s website, starting in June the airline will double frequencies between Denver and Des Moines, Iowa, and Madison, Wis. It also plans to increase service between Denver and Portland, Oregon, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma, Wash., and Spokane, Wash. to meet high demand during the peak travel season. In addition, Frontier will also be resuming popular summer service to several destinations from Denver and Milwaukee. These routes include non-stop service between Denver and Anchorage, Alaska; Fairbanks, Alaska, and Green Bay, Wis.
An inquiry as to the reason behind the airline’s decision to leave Long Beach Airport did not receive an immediate response, though a source reportedly said that ridership on its Long Beach routes has been low.
The airline was launched 17 years ago and employs roughly 5,500 nationwide. According to Frontier, it served 1.26 million passengers in March, up 2 percent from March 2010 traffic.