Analysis: Frontier Airlines orders 91 Airbus A321neo

At this year’s most important aeronautical event, the Dubai Air Show 2021, Indigo Partners placed an order for 255 A321neo. The order represents a major milestone for the European manufacturer, as in the post-pandemic context, operators have opted to be conservative in their spending. The aircraft will be distributed among Frontier Airlines, Wizz Air, JetSmart, and Volaris. The U.S. low-cost carrier will receive 91 Airbus A321neo, which will enable it to expand its seat offer.

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See also: Dubai 2021: Indigo Partners announces order of 255 A321neo for Volaris, JetSMART, Frontier, and Wizz Air

Throughout the recovery of the U.S. airline industry, the domestic vacation markets were able to restore much of their operations to pre-pandemic levels and even increase capacity and add more flights on several routes. Traditional operators such as United, American, and Delta utilized widebody aircraft on several domestic destinations, most notably to Florida and Hawaii.

For Frontier, the progressive addition of Airbus A321neo aircraft will allow them to increase seating capacity at several of their most popular bases, such as Orlando or Denver, to highly demanded sun and beach destinations both domestically and internationally.

See also: Frontier wants to be the greenest airline in the U.S.

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«These additional A321neo aircraft allow us to triple the size of the airline by 2029,» said Barry Bifflie, President and CEO of Frontier Airlines.

«We are already the greenest airline in the U.S. with an already existing fleet that is 43% more fuel-efficient, on average per seat, than other U.S. airlines. The A321neo is expected to deliver nearly 120 ASM (Seat Per Mile Offered) per gallon, boosting further our industry-leading environmental efforts while debunking the myth that going green is a costly investment that can only be achieved in the future», Biffle added.

The Airbus A321neo deliveries are scheduled to be completed between 2023 and 2029. They join Frontier’s pending order of 143 aircraft to be delivered between 2022 and 2028, bringing the airline’s total order to 234. By the end of 2029, the airline will have a fleet of 272 aircraft.

«Frontier has truly capitalized on the efficiency of the A321neo to offer passengers an affordable and more environmentally friendly flying experience,» said Jeffrey Knittel, president, and CEO of Airbus Americas.

Frontier Airlines currently has a fleet of 21 Airbus A320ceo, 18 Airbus and 73 Airbus A320neo aircraft for a total of 112 aircraft. The airline has pending orders for 73 Airbus A320neo and 158 Airbus A321neo, the latter of which includes the order for the flagship Airbus A321XLR family model.

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The Airbus A321neo has a capacity of 240 passengers in a single configuration and a cargo capacity of 51 cubic meters. The aircraft has a range of 7,400 km, which allows it to perform medium to long-range flights.

Frontier is currently expanding its destination network to several international routes in Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean, especially to sun and beach vacation destinations.

From its South Florida hubs in Miami (MIA) and Orlando (MCO) the airline has the opportunity to expand seat capacity on high-demand routes such as Cancun (CUN), Punta Cana (PUJ), and San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO), as well as expanding operations to South American cities such as Lima (LIM), Quito (UIO) and Guayaquil (GYE).

The Airbus A321neo also gives the company the opportunity to explore other domestic destinations to Hawaii: from its base in Las Vegas (LAX) the aircraft has enough range to reach destinations such as Honolulu (HNL) or Kahului, Maui (OGG).