By JOHN HOWELL The Rhode Island Airport Corporation's newest fire trucks, each less than a year old, were at the ready Monday afternoon. There wasn't an emergency, and at Gate 2, passengers waiting to take Frontier Airlines inaugural flight to Atlanta
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The Rhode Island Airport Corporation’s newest fire trucks, each less than a year old, were at the ready Monday afternoon. There wasn’t an emergency, and at Gate 2, passengers waiting to take Frontier Airlines inaugural flight to Atlanta were being treated to a luncheon spread of sandwiches and cookies.
This was a celebration.
With Frontier flight’s landing lights visible on the distant clouded horizon, the fire trucks took their positions on either side of taxiway Charlie. The Air Bus 280 with 140 passengers, a whale painted on its tail, made a smooth landing and when it reached the fire trucks they rendered a water cannon salute – a welcome for inaugural arrivals that is going to happen again in the weeks to come.
Frontier launched a second route to Philadelphia on Tuesday to give the airlines six destinations from the newly named Rhode Island International Green Airport. The addition of Rhode Island and international to the name is seen as improving the marketability of the airport.
To celebrate the new services, Frontier is offering introductory fares starting at $29 for its Philadelphia flight and $44 to Atlanta. The flights are offered three times weekly at this time.
Frontier’s Jennifer de la Cruz, director of corporate communications, welcomed passengers before they boarded and conducted a raffle where passengers could win one of 10 swag bags that included a $250 voucher to fly Frontier.
In an interview, she said the airline is providing a lot of capacity to meet a pent-up demand to travel now that pandemic restrictions are being lifted. She said that thus far, the airline is seeing family travelers, people looking to reconnect with loved ones, and tourists.
While she said Frontier is not a large carrier of business travelers, although “we are seeing some business.”
With the additional Frontier and Breeze Airways flights to Charlestown, Norfolk and Pittsburgh this summer, the airport will have 11 airlines serving 25 destinations. Breeze launches its Charleston flight on July 22. The airport is seeing a return of traffic, although it is still down from what it was in 2019. Currently weekly departures are down 33 percent from 2019 but significantly up from 2020. The 2020 departures for the period were down 61 percent from the year before.
Frontier is focused on more than low fares. The carrier offers customers the ability to customize travel to their needs and budget. For example, customers can purchase options a la carte or in one low-priced bundle called the WORKS. This bundle includes refundability, a carry-on bag, a checked bag, the best available seat, waived change fees, and priority boarding.
The airline’s frequent flyer program, FRONTIER Miles, lets members enjoy many benefits as well as the ability to attain Elite status. Like the airline, FRONTIER Miles is family friendly and the program makes it easy for families to enjoy the rewards together, including family pooling of miles. FRONTIER Miles is aptly named because you earn one mile for every mile flown – no funny formulas at Frontier. Whether customers travel a little or a lot, they will find FRONTIER Miles rewarding.
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