Frontier Airlines to begin flying out of Chicago’s Midway Airport in April
A new airline will begin flying out of Midway Airport in the spring, bringing the number of airlines operating out of the smaller of Chicago’s two airports to six.
Low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines will begin flying to eight destinations on April 28, including Atlanta, Denver and Las Vegas, Josh Flyr, Frontier’s vice president of network and operational design, said at a news conference Tuesday.
The airline plans to add another two destinations, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, in October.
Frontier used to fly out of Midway, but left the airport in early 2015 to consolidate operations at O’Hare International Airport as it transitioned to its low-cost model, Flyr said.
The airline now plans to fly out of both airports. Midway will become the company’s primary Chicago airport, and service out of O’Hare will focus on destinations such as Mexico and Caribbean cities.
“Specifically for Midway, what we love about it is that it’s just a great fit for our business model,” Flyr said after the news conference. “With its flexible operating environment and low cost, that allows us to sort of leverage our low cost, and allows us to pass those low costs onto consumers in the form of low fares.”
Frontier’s expansion comes as airlines have been battered for nearly two years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the hits, Frontier has continued to see some demand for travel and is eyeing a return to pre-pandemic travel habits, Flyr said.
“As the pandemic recedes, and hopefully recedes finally, and people really get back to traveling, being in Midway is going to position us really well for that surge of travel, both leisure and business, that we expect to follow the pandemic,” he said.
Midway has long been a major hub for Southwest Airlines. With the return of Frontier, the airlines flying out of Midway will include: Southwest, Delta, Allegiant, Porter, Volaris and, soon, Frontier.
