The flight to Denver International Airport opened connections to other Southwest destinations in the west.
Southwest connecting service promises to expand sharply in April when Southwest finishes a revamp of its reservations system in its ongoing effort to absorb the operations of AirTran Airlines, which it acquired last year.
Southwest said in 2012 that it was studying what other flights it might add from Dayton, but offered no firm timetable. Nevertheless, the airline has spent more than $1 million at the airport to expand service, Slaybaugh said, indicating more activity is in the works.
Frontier at the beginning of the year discontinued its afternoon flights to Denver, one of two daily flights it had from Dayton. The other is a morning flight to the same destination, which continues until May 31st.
“They told us they have enjoyed their time in Dayton and maybe they’ll return in future,” Slaybaugh said. United Airlines also serves Denver, Slaybaugh added. “We do have a lot of service to Denver,” he added.
Slaybaugh said that in 2012 through November, Frontier had nearly 80,000 boardings in Dayton, a 6.4 percent decline from 2011.
Telephone and Email requests for comment from Frontier Airlines were not immediately returned Friday morning.
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