An expansion by Frontier Airlines earlier today pits two low-cost carriers against one another for passengers flying from Northwest Arkansas to Las Vegas.
The airline announced today that it’ll start twice-a-week flights from Northwest Arkansas National Airport to Sin City, starting Aug. 13. Those flights will depart on Fridays and Mondays.
It’ll create competition with Allegiant Air, a low-cost carrier that’s provided twice-a-week nonstop service from XNA to Las Vegas for more than a decade. Its flights to Las Vegas are on Thursdays and Sundays.
How Allegiant and Frontier compete for XNA’s leisure travelers headed to Las Vegas isn’t known, but both airlines are expected to be less expensive to fly than American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. Las Vegas flights on Allegiant are often hundreds of dollars less costly.
Frontier this morning was selling an Aug. 16-20 roundtrip from XNA to Las Vegas for $78. Allegiant wanted $120 for an Aug. 15-19 trip.
Denver-based Frontier first arrived at XNA in June 2019 when it began three nonstop flights a week to its Denver hub. Its Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday flights provided direct competition for United, and it caused the competitor to reduce its fares. Yet, United fares these days rarely compare to the deals offered by low-cost Frontier. An Aug. 15-19 roundtrip, for example, was selling for just $94 on Frontier this morning. United wanted $316 on the same travel days.
Today’s Frontier news comes on the heels of several expansions at XNA, all announced in recent weeks by Allegiant Air and newcomer Breeze Airways.
Allegiant in February said it would fly twice each week nonstop to Austin, beginning July 2.
Breeze, which was established by the founder of JetBlue, announced in May that it would fly nonstop from XNA to Tampa, New Orleans and San Antonio. The Tampa service started last week; flights to New Orleans and San Antonio take off July 15.
Allegiant Air waited just three days before responding to Breeze, announcing its plan to add two Florida destinations from XNA. Its new flights to the St. Petersburg/Clearwater airport, which is 14 miles from Tampa, starts July 2. Its new service to Fort Lauderdale begins in October.
