Syracuse air travelers will soon have four new direct destinations to choose from thanks to a new partnership between Hancock International Airport and Frontier Airlines. The announcement comes just one day after introducing a similar agreement between the airport and Allegiant airlines to offer direct flights between Syracuse and Nashville. Starting on July 2, CIO of Frontier Rick Zeni says Denver, Raleigh, Orlando and Chicago will be added to the roster of direct flights, bringing that number up to 21 cities.
"Denver and Raleigh are two routes that, to my knowledge, have never been served nonstop out of Syracuse, we are really excited with how they're going to work."
Hancock airport officials first started courting Frontier nearly eight years ago. Airport Executive Director Christina Callahan says that the deal is thanks to constant status updates about the growth at the airport, and in the demand that Frontier needed to find a new home in Syracuse.
"It takes time to build these relationships as the airlines look for opportunities, our goal is to be the first in line and with Frontier, we succeeded.
The cities chosen for these direct flights were based on overall interest and traffic coming out of Syracuse. Callahan says Denver is the second highest market that didn’t have a direct flight out of the airport; Washington-Baltimore International Airport is the first. She hopes the new flights will stir competition within the airport and give travelers more options.
"I think anytime you introduce competition into the market, it's a good thing. I think we have a lot of demand to Florida, we have people who travel to Orlando year round. What I'm hoping this will do is create a little bit of competition and give people options."
Travelers can take advantage of low one way fares during the airline’s brief introductory period, which ends this Friday. Tickets and more information can be found at flyfrontier.com.
