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PROVO -- Scheduled commercial flights will soon be arriving in Utah County. Provo Mayor John Curtis told the city council by phone Tuesday night that Frontier Airlines will start a daily flight in and out of Provo in June.
The flight out to the airline's Denver hub will leave at 8:30 a.m. each day with a return flight landing at 9:15 p.m. daily.
"It's a big deal for us," says airport manager, Steve Gleason. "We're pretty excited about it."
Gleason told the council if the flight fills up, more flights will follow.
"There are other airlines besides Frontier that are still interested in looking at some other destinations. So we would anticipate that happening, but again it's going to depend on how well we support this flight," said Gleason.
- Subsidiary of Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings Inc.
- In its 16th year of operations
- Flies to over 70 destinations in the U.S., Costa Rica and Mexico
- Hubs: Denver, Milwaukee, Kansas City
A market study showed community leaders that about 15 percent of the Denver-bound traffic leaving Salt Lake International Airport came out of the Provo Municipal Airport area.
Frontier will fly the 99-seat Embraer 190 jet aircraft. It will operate out of the Million Air Provo terminal at the airport, which will need to set up TSA passenger and baggage screening.
A $500,000 federal grant last fall paid for some improvements, and helped attract Frontier. But over the last five years, a new control tower and a $5 million radar system also prepared the airport for this service.
Joel Racker, CEO of the Utah Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, says the Frontier flights will help elevate the community's profile for business and tourism.
"I know it's going to be a great selling point for us," Racker said.
With two universities, several high-tech businesses, the Sundance Resort and a new convention center on the way, traffic to and from the county is surging.
"I think there's enough demand from different sectors, not only business, but tourism, and meetings and events that we'll be able to fill some seats on that flight," Racker said.
Gleason says Provo Municipal has no intention of growing into a major airport like Salt Lake International, or trying to compete with the big airport to the north.
"We would like to see this one take off and be successful," he said. "How successful it is will determine how much more traffic might take place."
The first flight to Provo is expected to be on June 20. Gleason said Frontier has told them tickets prices will be similar to what it would cost to fly out of Salt Lake City.
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Story written with contributions from Randall Jeppesen and Jed Boal.
