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Delaware is the only state without commercial flights; that's about to change

Edward Russell
Edward Russell
Contributor
Edward Russell is a contributor for TPG. An AvGeek at heart, he covered the airline business at FlightGlobal for eight years and previously covered finance in New York and Hong Kong.
Jan. 28, 2020
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2 min read
Frontier employees and executives physically pull a 46-ton Airbus A320 out of the Frontier Airlines hanger at Denver International Airport in Denver.
Delaware is the only state without commercial flights; that's about to change
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Frontier Airlines is returning to Delaware in May, putting the First State back on the U.S. airline map.

The Denver-based low-cost carrier will offer seasonal service between Wilmington's New Castle Airport (ILG) and Orlando (MCO) starting May 14, Frontier said Tuesday. Flights will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays with Airbus A320-family jets.

Frontier previously served Wilmington from 2013 to 2015, ending flights to Orlando and Tampa (TPA) in April 2015, according to Cirium schedule data. At its peak, the airline served seven cities nonstop from Wilmington.

Currently, neither Wilmington nor any other airport in Delaware has regularly scheduled airline service, making it the only U.S. state without regular passenger flights.

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While Tuesdays announcement includes only one route, Frontier spokesman Zach Kramer told TPG the airline sees the "potential to add more in the future."

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"We recognize the demand for affordable air travel in Delaware and are happy to offer nonstop flights to Orlando this summer," Frontier senior vice president of commercial Daniel Shurz said in a statement.

Frontier plans to grow capacity by roughly 15% year-over-year in 2020, and double in size by 2025, its senior manager of network planning Jonathon Nield told TPG in December.

The airline had 98 Airbus A320neos and 67 A321neos, the latter including 18 A321XLRs, Airbus data showed as of the end of December. Frontier operated 98 aircraft at the time.

Related: Frontier Airlines to double in size over next five years

More on Frontier:The 10 longest (and 10 shortest) Frontier Airlines flights

Featured image by Denver Post via Getty Images