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Kerry Roach and Alison Wadey had the same two-word response on Monday when told Frontier Airlines would begin service this winter into the Eagle County Regional Airport.
“That’s amazing!” said Roach, the owner of Skipper & Scout in Vail, who welcomed the news of the low-cost carrier coming to the local airport. She noted that the local resorts have been losing guests to areas such as Deer Valley, Utah, which have close-in air service.
Officials from Frontier Airlines, Eagle County and the EGE Air Alliance have scheduled a press conference for Tuesday at 10 a.m. to announce destinations and pricing for the flights headed this way this winter.
“This is why we have a regional airport,” Roach said, adding that having a close-in airport makes it easy for families to fly in and hit the slopes the next day.
“It just opens up doors to people who want to come to the Vail Valley,” she said.
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Wadey, the executive director of the Vail Chamber and Business Association, was the second member of Monday’s “That’s amazing!” club.
Wadey called the news “huge,” not just for guests, but for the local population, giving all those potential customers another airline to compete with among the ones already flying into the airport.
“Competition is always a good thing,” Wadey said. She also credited the airport’s executive staff, along with board members of the EGE Air Alliance, the nonprofit group that advocates for better service at the airport.
“It took a lot of hard work — it’s a great accomplishment,” she said.
‘A no-brainer’
Peter Dann is the chair of the Air Alliance board. Dann said that group and airport officials have long worked on a “better balance” to serve three groups: locals, second-home owners and guests.
Roach and her husband are two of the locals who frequently fly elsewhere. They aren’t alone, she said.
“People aren’t just living here, they’re traveling,” Roach said. “They’ve got to have the benefit of that access.”
Venture Sports owner Mike Brumbaugh said he and his employees will almost certainly take advantage of a low-fare airline for getaways.
For guests, Brumbaugh said the addition of Frontier gives the Vail Valley a potential competitive advantage over other resorts.
The addition of the airline is a “no-brainer,” he said.
And, while a low-fare airline may seem incongruous with Vail and Beaver Creek, Wadey isn’t so sure.
People who buy Epic Pass products are trying to save money, she said. Many of those people will get to the Vail Valley however they can, she said.
“It’s a match made in heaven,” she added.
‘A piece of the puzzle’
Dann said bringing Frontier to Eagle County “is a piece of the puzzle” in broadening the airport’s service portfolio, noting that July’s announcement that Alaska Airlines would in December begin service three times per week from San Diego and Seattle is also exciting.
While Frontier’s announcement of destinations and fares won’t be announced until Tuesday, Dann noted that the airline is known for its lower prices.
“(Frontier is) a last little piece of the puzzle,” he said, adding that Eagle County Aviation Director David Reid and his team are “knocking it out of the park” adding service to the airport.
Better yet, Dann said, Frontier’s flights are coming to Eagle County without minimum revenue guarantees. Those guarantees are often used to attract airlines, and are payment based on passenger levels. If a flight doesn’t meet those minimum passenger levels, the destination makes up the revenue shortfall.
Dann noted that Frontier’s aircraft and pilots are all certified to operate at Eagle County’s elevation, and especially the takeoffs required to clear Red Hill west of the airport’s runway.
The addition of Frontier is another option, and “the more options to fly into Eagle (County) just makes us that much better of a destination,” Park Hyatt Beaver Creek General Manager Herb Rackliff said.