Frontier Airlines to take on Spirit Airlines with key Florida routes

Just two weeks after Spirit Airlines  (SAVE)  submitted regulatory documents expressing "significant doubt" about its ability to stay in business, fellow low-cost competitor Frontier Airlines  (FRON)  is bringing new routes into what has long been a Spirit stronghold.

These inlcude flights from Florida's Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) to Detroit, Houston, Chicago, and Charlotte, on top of additional routes from Houston to New Orleans, Baltimore, Guatemala City, and San Pedro Sula in the Central American country of Honduras.

The flights are set to launch in winter 2025 and will expand on existing service to many of these destinations from other cities.

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"Not here to talk about M&A": Frontier Airlines CEO

The market expansion first broken by CNBC indicates that the Denver-based Frontier is steadily moving into the Florida low-cost space that for decades has been controlled primarily by Spirit. 

In an interview on the morning "Squawk Box" show, Frontier CEO Barry Biffle shot down any implications that this could signal a potential merger or plans to acquire Spirit.

Frontier was outbid by JetBlue  (JBLU)  in an acquisition that was ultimately blocked by a judge in 2023 and saw a second bid of approximately $2.16 billion rejected by Spirit as being too low in 2025.

Related: Another budget airline sounds alarms about the economy

"I'm not here to talk about M&A," Biffle said in response to a question from host Andrew Sorkin.

A note that Deutsche Bank airline analyst Michael Linenberg sent to investors on Aug. 25 shows that even before the Fort Lauderdale expansion, Frontier and Spirit route networks overlapped by 35%.

"We want to ensure consumers in those markets continue to have affordable flight options": Biffle

Other new routes announced by Frontier Airlines include a flight between Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) and Mexico's Cancún launching on Nov. 22 and another between Charlotte and Detroit that will run twice weekly from Nov. 23.

Flights to New Orleans from Detroit and Houston will launch a few months later on Feb. 12 and 13, respectively. The carrier has added 20 new flights total.

"As industry capacity adjusts, we want to ensure consumers in those markets continue to have affordable flight options," Biffle said in a statement on the new flights.

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To promote the new destinations, Frontier is also offering several promotional rates starting at $29 for short flights like Baltimore and Houston and going up to $89 for international routes such as Baltimore to Cancun. 

To take advantage, travelers need to secure travel for non-peak holiday periods between Oct. 20 and Jan. 5 by September 1.

Several of the new routes announced by Frontier are also served by mainstream airlines like United Airlines  (UAL)  and American Airlines  (AAL) , in what in some cases are quite concentrated markets.

Related: Delta Air Lines to cut all flights to US city, refunds available

Since the start of the year, Frontier has leaned into poaching travelers with offers such as status matches and its longtime companion pass. Still, it struggled to differentiate itself from many other airlines competing on the same routes for the same traveler base.

Upon Frontier's announcement of the new routes, the airline's stock saw a moderate boost to $36.96; it is up 6% since the start of 2025, while most low-cost airlines have seen theirs drop.

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