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Frontier grounds Delaware service for good

The agency that operates New Castle Airport says Frontier Airlines is done in Delaware.

The Delaware River and Bay Authority says Frontier has discontinued all service from New Castle just under two years after bringing commercial flights to the First State in July 2013.

DRBA spokesman Jim Salmon says they're "disappointed" Frontier is pulling out, leaving no commercial air service at the airport once again. But he says they're eager to fill that gap with someone new.

 

"Frontier's decision is somebody else's gain," said Salmon. "And we're going to continue to explore opportunities to attract and retain scheduled commercial air service here, and we'll be ready to accommodate those airlines when and if they come."

He says the airport is still moving forward with plans to expand parking, and is "knocking on doors" to find new commercial providers.

In November, DRBA officials said Frontier promised to resume some service from the airport in late 2015 after announcing it would suspend all of its flights from New Castle by April 2015.

It’s the third commercial carrier in the last 10 years to try to fly in and out of New Castle Airport, only to quickly fail.  Similar efforts by Delta in 2006 and SkyBus in 2008 were also unable to get off the ground.

Tom Byrne has been a fixture covering news in Delaware for three decades. He joined Delaware Public Media in 2010 as our first news director and has guided the news team ever since. When he's not covering the news, he can be found reading history or pursuing his love of all things athletic.