Frontier launches nonstop flights from Las Vegas to Mexican resorts

Frontier Airlines has announced new service from Las Vegas starting in September. The airline will add flights to Washington’s Dulles International Airport and Cleveland’s Hopkins International Airport. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)

Frontier Airlines has launched new nonstop flights between Las Vegas and a pair of Mexican resort destinations.

The Denver-based ultra-low-cost carrier began service between McCarran International Airport and Los Cabos on Dec. 15 and to Cancun on Dec. 21, becoming the first U.S. carrier in more than a decade to offer nonstop international flights out of Las Vegas. America West Airlines once offered a nonstop service to Mexico, but that was halted in 2008.

Flights to Cancun will leave Las Vegas about 10 a.m. Mondays and Fridays, with the return flight arriving about 8 p.m. The Saturday Cabo flight will depart Las Vegas about noon, returning at 7 p.m. Fares will start at $69 one way.

“We are excited to be further expanding our unique brand of low fares done right to Las Vegas,” said Daniel Shurz, vice president, commercial for Frontier Airlines. “Frontier is always looking for ways to make travel easier and more affordable.”

The additions of Cancun and Los Cabos brings the number of cities Frontier offers nonstop service to out of Las Vegas to 31, Shurz said. Four years ago the airline served only four destinations out of Las Vegas, he said.

Las Vegas ranks as Frontier’s third largest market and Frontier is McCarran’s eighth-busiest airline by number of flights.

“Frontier Airlines has achieved success through bringing travelers from across the United States to Las Vegas, as well as carrying our local travelers to numerous destinations throughout the country,” Chris Jones, chief marketing officer for McCarran, said in a statement. “We’re now very pleased that Frontier’s network is growing internationally with this month’s additions of Cancun and Los Cabos — each a popular leisure market that previously lacked nonstop service to Las Vegas.”

The airline also has a flight attendant and pilot crew based in Las Vegas, giving the airline flexibility in how it schedules flights, Shurz said.

Las Vegas has been seen as primarily a destination market rather than an origin market for decades. With the city’s growth, that perception is beginning to change, Shurz said.

“There’s a lot of people living in the region and we look at Vegas from both perspectives,” he said. “Which routes are good from a destination Las Vegas perspective, but we are also increasingly looking at destinations that customers in Vegas would want to fly.”

Shurz doesn’t see the growth of Frontier’s Las Vegas operations stopping anytime soon. He said McCarran has worked with the airline on future expansion needs and the needed space is available.

“We’ve grown faster than the city,” he said. “We continue to see good results as we grow, so the plan is to keep growing. There are a lot more cities we can potentially fly to, primarily in the U.S., but also other international opportunities as well.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.