A low-cost airline wants to start flying to South…

A low-cost airline wants to start flying to South America from the U.S.

While it launched in 1994 and quickly rose in prominence as a budget option for flying between different cities in the U.S., Frontier Airlines (FRON) had a tougher time breaking into international destinations popular with American tourists.

Routes to Caribbean countries such as Belize and Nassau were launched only to be discontinued, while certain flights to cities in Mexico and Jamaica also did not survive the market.

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Bogotá is an increasingly popular vacation destination for American tourists. Frontier Airlines has applied for a permit to fly to Colombia from the U.S.
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If approved, new flight will take on South American giant

The airline's biggest push to break into the tropical market took place in the spring of 2024 when Frontier announced a number of new flights to Puerto Rico's San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport as well as new routes to the Dominican Republic and Barbados.

While the airline is yet to fly to South America, Argentinian outlet Aviacionline broke the news that Frontier has applied for a permit to launch a new route between Luis Muñoz Marín (SJU) and El Dorado International Airport (BOG) in Colombia's Bogotá.

"According to the document submitted to Aerocivil, Frontier plans to operate two weekly flights using Airbus A320neo and A321neo (EADSF) aircraft," the news outlet reported. "The airline will compete directly with Avianca (AVHOQ) , which already operates ten weekly flights between Bogotá and San Juan, using Airbus A320ceo and A320neo."

Avianca is the flagship carrier of Colombia and the second-largest airline in South America after LATAM (LTMAQ) .

While this route would be Frontier's first venture into South America and only route to Colombia from the U.S., the flight is designed to serve a very specific market of travelers going between Puerto Rico and Colombia for business or family connections. Tourists from the mainland U.S. would generally fly from or through Miami.

There is a lot of interest in the Puerto Rico-Colombia market (here is why)

JetBlue Airways (JBLU) has also launched a flight from San Juan to Jose Maria Cordova International Airport (MDE) in Colombia's Medellín in October 2024. Even so, the market is currently dominated by Avianca which currently runs 10 weekly flights between Bogotá and San Juan.

The South American aviation giant has been the subject of rumors that it is preparing to file an IPO in the U.S. at some point this year.

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"Our Medellín service adds to our successful franchise in Colombia," JetBlue's Vice President of Network Planning Scott Laurence said in a statement. "Customers continue to choose JetBlue and allow us to expand and grow in Colombia."

Frontier, meanwhile, has prioritized making San Juan a major hub for its Caribbean expansion. At the moment, it sells flights to the U.S. territory from 15 cities on the mainland — Orlando, Philadelphia and Newark, among others — as well as nine international destinations in the area such as Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

Last July, the airline officially announced that it was making Luis Muñoz Marín Airport an official crew base.

"This new crew base underscores just how vital San Juan has become to our operations as we continue to grow our service between Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainland, as well as to other islands in the Caribbean," CEO Barry Biffle said at the time.

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