AP Features, July 3rd, 2007
Frontier Airlines will begin offering flights between Rapid City and Denver, the low-fare carrier's hub, an airline official said Monday.
Joe Hodas, Frontier spokesman, said service will begin Oct. 5 with two flights a day, seven days a week.
An official announcement, with fares and schedules, was expected to be made on Tuesday. The airline will also add Wichita, Kan., and Sioux City, Iowa, to its schedule, Hodas said.
Other cities in the region _ including Sioux Falls _ have been seeking to have Frontier add them to its schedule.
Airport managers have sought the Frontier routes because the low-priced carrier could increase competition and cause other airlines to lower their fares.
Last winter, Frontier invited as many as 50 mid-sized cities within a 1,200-mile radius of Denver to submit proposals.
Airport managers throughout the region were competing for the service, and some cities offered cash subsidies to lure Frontier. Sioux Falls, for example, offered $250,000 in revenue guarantees after a consultant told airport officials there that fares could drop by 30 percent if Frontier enters the market.
Mason Short, Rapid City Regional Airport's executive director, said Rapid City's package included no cash subsidy or revenue guarantees. The airport does offer marketing agreements through the Rapid City Air Service Task Force and partners such as the South Dakota Department of Tourism and the Rapid City Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Short said he believes the Rapid City market itself that lured Frontier to town.
"I think it was twofold _ the tremendous outdoor recreation and attractions that are here, and the tremendous amount of demand for air service in Rapid City," he said.
Denver is the most popular destination for air travel from Rapid City Regional Airport.
Frontier Airlines began service on July 5, 1994, with 180 employees and two Boeing 737s on routes from Denver to the North Dakota cities of Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot.
It has since grown into the second-largest carrier out of Denver International Airport, with an average of 250 daily departures and arrivals to 57 cities in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Central America.
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Information from: Rapid City Journal, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com
