The commercial jetliners are coming back to New Castle Airport, and that's good news for commuters and toll-payers.
Frontier Airlines has announced limited service from the airport, just over the Delaware Memorial Bridge on Route 13 starting July 1. The airline will fly good sized Airbus 320s to Chicago, Houston, Denver, Tampa and Orlando.
With $49 teaser fares offered on Frontier’s website through April 20, there will be lots of initial interest. We hope it sticks, since this Delaware River and Bay Authority-run airport has had little success with passenger service.
New Castle last had commercial service in 2008, when its sole carrier, a deep-discount airline called Skybus, went belly up. A Times editorial at the time wondered why the Wilmington-area facility wasn't thriving and augmenting a crowded Philadelphia International Airport. Less than 25 miles from PHL, the little airport that couldn't had lost three carriers since 2000.
The return of scheduled flights is welcome, though we wonder how good a fit the Frontier deal is. New Castle would be ideal for shorter-haul commuter service to Boston, Cleveland, Charlotte, etc., with somewhat smaller planes. In any case, let’s hope that the new flight schedule expands and that the DRBA has finally figured out how to manage what should be a cash cow, not an underperforming asset.