According to data from "Cirium, an aviation analytics company", low-cost carriers operating from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) are offering 545,075 seats on their operations for the month of November. All in all, five low-cost carriers operate from this airport. Let's dive deeper into the development and current state of the low-cost market at EWR.
It was recently announced that Frontier Airlines (F9) was giving passengers a chance to fly between EWR and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) for fares as low as $29, though the fare had certain terms and conditions. Frontier started operating this route on November 4.
According to FlightRoutes, the carrier is operating its Airbus A320neo between Newark and Atlanta. According to data from planespotters.net, Frontier has 82 Airbus A320neos, whose average age is 5.2 years. This competes with two of the three big US carriers for non-stop flights on this route: Delta Air Lines (DL) and United Airlines (UA).
All in all, Frontier has 166 flights from Newark airport (in November), and offers 37,464 seats. The carrier started operations from this airport in March this year as it announced that it would fly to San Juan. When it introduced it route, it was set to compete with two other low-cost carriers operating on this route: JetBlue Airways (B6) and Spirit Airlines (NK).
Frontier's edition of the Newark - San Juan route had come after the carrier had altered its network extensively, reported The Points Guy:
"The airline has announced dozens of route cuts and additions since January. It's part of the carrier's strategy to shift some attention away from its longtime stalwart markets like Orlando International Airport (MCO) and Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas. At those airports, mounting capacity — particularly among budget airlines — has caused fares to fall and made turning a profit difficult for some airlines in those markets."
Allegiant Air (G4) has 116 flights from EWR (for November), and on these, it is offering 20,496 seats. The carrier has 91 Airbus A320-200 in its fleet and 34 Airbus A319-100s.
The A320s of the carrier used to operate from EWR to Appleton, Wisconsin, via Appleton International Airport (ATW), a route that came into operation in May this year.
According to flightsfrom.com, some of the destinations where Allegiant operates from EWR include
- Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) [on Airbus A319s and Airbus A320s]
- Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) [on Airbus A319s]
- Asheville Regional Airport(AVL) [on Airbus A320s]
Allegiant was the first low-cost carrier to be granted operations from EWR after it was found that United Airlines was monopolizing the operations in the airport, according to the Associated Press:
" Allegiant was one of several smaller, low-cost carriers which wrote last fall to U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to complain that United, Delta and American were driving up fares at New York-area airports by controlling the vast majority of slots, which are takeoff and landing authorizations. Chicago-based United controlled about 900 of the roughly 1,200 slots at Newark — more than 10 times as many slots as any other airline — the Justice Department lawsuit last fall alleged, and wasn’t fully utilizing the slots it had."
When Allegiant started its operations from EWR, fares were as low as $39, and flights took off to the following destinations:
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Savannah, Georgia
- Asheville, North Carolina
- Knoxville, Tennessee
Southwest Airlines used to operate from EWR but decided to leave its operations from this airport in 2019 amid some financial strife in its operations. Sixteen slots that were previously operated by this all-Boeing 737-operator were up for grabs.
In 2021, the Biden administration opened up Newark to low-cost carriers, hoping to spur competition, as in 2020, 65% of all Newark flights were conducted by United Airlines, reported Reuters:
The Transportation Department and the Federal Aviation Administration said without the reassignment of the Newark slots to a low-cost carrier "it is highly unlikely that there will be any significant reduction in fares." The department acknowledged the new flights would lead to some additional delays at the congested airport but said "the benefits of lower fares significantly outweigh the impacts of additional delays."
CNBC reported that Spirit Airlines had asked for 16 of the most desirable slots from Newark, and following this, the shares of this low-cost carrier traded up 0.8%. Spirit Airlines currently has the highest number of operations from Newark Airport in November, i.e., 1684. The carrier offers more than 310,000 seats and close to 340 million ASMs.
JetBlue has 1,087 operations from EWR in November. According to FlightRoutes, the following are the airports where JetBlue operates from Newark:
- Orlando International Airport (MCO) on its Airbus A320s
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) on is Airbus A320s.
- Palm Beach International (PBI) on its Airbus A320s.
Sun Country Airlines - the ultra-low-cost carrier based in Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) operates its flights from Terminal B of EWR. The carrier's code-sharing flights are operated from either Terminal A or Terminal C.
Let's briefly look at the carrier's operations from EWR:
|
Flights |
43 |
|---|---|
|
Seats |
7,998 |
|
Available Seat Miles (ASMs) |
8,061,984 |
Besides MSP, the carrier has flights to the following airports from Newark, according to ewrairport.net:
- Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT)
- John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH)
- Cincinnati Municipal Airport Lunken Field (LUK)
- New York Stewart International Airport (SWF)
The carrier has 56 aircraft in its fleet, all of which are Boeing 737-800s.
