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| An Airbus A-319 jet owned by Frontier Airlines, which plans to begin round-trip service between Idaho Falls and Denver in June. |
Idaho Falls Regional Airport Director Craig Davis said the city and the carrier reached an agreement Friday for flights to start June 13. The company plans to fly 124-seat Airbus A-319 jets into Idaho Falls on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday at 10:44 p.m.. departing the following morning at 6:35 a.m.
This will be in addition to IDA-DEN flights being offered by United Express. Davis said he hopes the competition for customers will lower airfare prices out of Idaho Falls and boost the number of people getting on and off planes here. In studies done at more than a dozen other airports, there has not been a "robbing Peter to pay Paul" effect, he said. Rather, both carriers have realized more customers and greater profitability.
Frontier is a low-fare, no frills airline that has expanded in the United States by flying its planes from hubs to smaller airports. (By way of personal example, last summer I flew Frontier from Salt Lake City to Denver, then to Wilmington, Del., where my mother lives. Idaho Falls Regional looks like LAX compared to the Wilmington airport, even though Wilmington probably has 10 times the population.)
Looking at the online booking at www.flyfrontier.com, the Tuesday/Wednesday fare between Idaho Falls and Denver is $48.09.
This news comes on the heels of Delta announcing it would begin round-trip service three times a week between Idaho Falls and Minneapolis-St. Paul.
