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CLEVELAND, Ohio – Frontier Airlines will discontinue several destinations from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in January, including popular routes to New York City and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Frontier spokesman Rob Harris said the routes are “being paused based on current market demand.” He noted that they could resume later in 2026. Frontier is known for its frenetic approach to route planning – adding and subtracting new destinations frequently. But the loss of New York City and San Juan are somewhat surprising. Both destinations have been offered for more than a year from Cleveland and seemed relatively well established. Frontier’s San Juan flight will be particularly missed, as the region’s only nonstop service to Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory with strong ties to Cleveland. The new flight was celebrated when it launched in 2023, the first nonstop between Cleveland and San Juan in six years. Initially offered four times per week, the route was increased to daily in early 2024. Its last departure from Cleveland will be on Jan. 5, 2026. Frontier added daily flights to New York City’s LaGuardia Airport in April 2024. It has since been reduced to three times per week. Its last flight will be on Jan. 18, 2026. Several other Frontier destinations from Cleveland Hopkins are being paused in January, as well, including Austin and Dallas, Texas; Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina; Nashville and Boston. Harris said that Raleigh-Durham and Dallas were slated to resume in the spring; the other destinations also might be back, although no decision has been made. Even after the reductions, the airline will still fly to 13 destinations from Cleveland Hopkins this winter. Still on the Frontier route map from Cleveland in early 2026: Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Sarasota and West Palm Beach, Florida; plus Atlanta, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Cancun and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Industry analyst Brett Snyder said that Frontier, a low-cost carrier that generates a large percentage of its revenue from baggage and other fees, continues to struggle with both competition and capacity. “This is an airline that has changed its stripes so many times it’s hard to figure out what is working,” said Snyder, who operates crankyflier.com. Frontier’s problems are not unique to Cleveland. The carrier announced in August that it would cut back on capacity nationwide, particularly on off-peak travel days, as a reaction to a decrease in travel demand caused by economic uncertainty. Frontier Airlines, based in Denver, is Cleveland’s second largest carrier behind United, with about 20% of Hopkins traffic in 2024. Frontier, the seventh largest airline in the U.S., opened a crew base at Hopkins last year, with 450 flight attendants, pilots and maintenance workers based in Cleveland. The addition was touted as a move that would bring increased flights and stability to Frontier’s operation in Cleveland.
