Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, located on the site of the former Williams Air Force Base in the southeastern area of the city of Mesa, Arizona, and approximately 20 miles southeast of Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, has secured a third airline operator after Frontier Airlines confirmed plans to launch a flights from its Denver International Airport base.
Frontier Airlines will offer a daily service on the route from November 15, 2012 using a 138-seat Airbus A319. It already offers flights between Denver and Phoenix serving Sky Harbor International Airport, a route also flown by ExpressJet Airlines (for United Airlines), SkyWest Airlines (for US Airways), Southwest Airlines, and the mainline businesses of both United Airlines and US Airways. Approximately 1,045,541 O&D passengers flew on the route in 2011, making it the single largest market from Denver with a 3.9 per cent share of the total estimated demand last year.
“Seeing that Denver is the top air travel destination from Phoenix, this expansion into the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport allows us to further differentiate our product offering, providing greater convenience and access to customers living and working in the east valley community,” said Greg Aretakis, Vice President, Network and Revenue, Frontier Airlines. “We have received tremendous community support and look forward to bringing our high value, low fare service to east valley travelers who currently have few customer friendly options.”
The facility, known as Williams Gateway Airport since its commercial opening in 1994 and up until 2008, has become a low-cost alternative to the busy Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the largest commercial air transport gateway in the American Southwest handling over 40 million passengers a year.
Charter airline Ryan International Airlines was one of the first operators to use the new airport on a regular basis, while XTRA Airways offered links to Chicago Gary International for a seven month period from December 2006. However, it was the arrival of Allegiant Air in October 2007 that really put Phoenix-Mesa Gateway on the map. The low-cost airline has developed the facility as a focus airport and now offers links to over 30 destinations, with a new service to Ogden due to start next month.
Fellow budget carrier Spirit Airlines has now also introduced flights Phoenix-Mesa Gateway. The company launched flights from Dallas/Fort Worth International and Las Vegas McCarran International earlier this year and will begin a new link from Chicago O’Hare International on November 9, 2012.
“Frontier’s announcement of service to its Denver hub makes Gateway Airport a literal gateway to the world,” added Scott Smith, Mesa Mayor and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority Board Chairman. “It means east valley travelers can go to destinations across the country and internationally with a single plane change, which is especially important for business.”
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