dailynewsnblog
Frontier Airlines is the United States’ largest ultra-low-cost carrier. Influenced by the cessation of Spirit Airlines, OAG data shows that Frontier’s flights have grown by 11% in 2026 to the highest level on record. 49.2 million seats are now for sale.
The strong growth is entirely because of the vast domestic market. Things are very different for international activity. In 2026, flights have fallen by 10% year-over-year, although they’re at nearly double the level of what was available before the pandemic in 2019. Three new routes will help.
Frontier Adds First Routes To South America
Frontier will commence the following links from 
Orlando International Airport (MCO) to Colombia. They’ll all take off in about three months ahead of the all-important Christmastime with higher demand for the holidays.
The announcement is even more significant than ‘just’ this. It’ll be the first time that Frontier has flown to South America. Starting with three cities from the get-go is, therefore, highly notable. Predictably, all three links were served by the now-defunct Spirit until 2025 (Cartagena) or 2026 (Bogotá and Medellín).
While obvious, it is critically important for airlines, no matter their nature, to keep fully abreast of market changes. The fact that Frontier is entering these markets (and many more elsewhere) because Spirit pulled out is another demonstration of this approach. It’ll now be the budget choice to two of the cities that’ll have direct competition.
Launch Date | Route | Frontier’s Operations | Head-To-Head Competition? |
|---|---|---|---|
December 10 | MCO to Medellín | Daily | Yes: Avianca |
December 14 | MCO to Bogotá | Six weekly | Yes: Avianca and LATAM |
December 19 | MCO to Cartagena | Weekly | No |
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A Quick Look At The Traffic In These Markets
In 2025, booking data from OAG Traffic Analyzer shows that approximately 530,000 round-trip passengers traveled between MCO and Colombia. This figure includes those who flew nonstop and those who connected to another flight on the way, mainly in Panama City, Bogotá (for reaching other cities), and Miami. This volume was influenced by the large number of people of Colombian descent living within the Greater Orlando area.
Bogotá had 227,000 round-trip local passengers. The ever-popular Orlando was the second-largest US market to/from the capital of Colombia. For obvious reasons, only Miami was a larger market (569,000). The then-presence of Spirit at MCO contributed to that market’s average fare being 17% lower than Miami, despite MCO flights covering 13% more distance and, therefore, having higher operating expenses.
MCO-Medellín had 171,000 passengers (it was the third-largest US market, after Miami and Fort Lauderdale), while Cartagena had 33,000 (the fourth-largest, after New York JFK, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale). In the final 12 months of service, the US Department of Transportation shows that only 67.8% of Spirit’s Cartagena seats were filled. Spirit usually had two to three weekly flights, while Frontier will only have a weekly service. At least it should be easier to fill the seats.
42 International Routes Planned For December
Let’s narrow the focus to December, when all three routes to South America will be operational. In that festive month, Frontier now plans 42 international routes. They’ll go from 15 airports, with MCO now being the most-served facility in a network sense. However, despite the new routes, it’ll rank second for international departures, behind 
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL).
The 15 airports are MCO (eight international routes), ATL (six), Philadelphia (five), Dallas/Fort Worth (four), Houston George Bush (four), Cincinnati (two), Cleveland (two), Miami (two), St. Louis (two), San Juan (two), Chicago O’Hare (ORD; one), Detroit (one), Los Angeles (one), Tampa (one), and Washington Dulles (one).
