There are two fewer routes and 21 fewer weekly flights compared with last summer's schedule
EWING -- People who fly out of Trenton-Mercer Airport should be prepared for fewer routes and less frequent flights when booking their summer travel plans.
Frontier Airlines, the only commercial airline that flies out of the county-owned airport, has 21 fewer weekly flights than it had last summer and is suspending service to Minneapolis-St. Paul and St. Augustine, Fla.
The cutbacks follow a scaled-back winter schedule, during which passengers only had a choice of four Florida destinations: Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Fort Myers and Orlando.
Under the new schedule, which goes until Oct. 26, Frontier will continue to have daily flights to Atlanta, Detroit and Orlando.
The frequency of flights to Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers is also staying the same, at four and three times a week, respectively.
But daily service to Chicago and Raleigh-Durham was reduced to four times a week and to Charlotte, three times a week. Flights to Tampa went from four to three times a week.
"As far as Minneapolis and St. Augustine goes, we adjust the schedule to meet demand," spokesman Jim Faulkner said.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia International Airport saw the addition of 10 new routes, including St. Augustine.
"We monitor the performance of all our routes so that's why we added some flights in Philadelphia where there is demand," Faulkner said.
Trenton-Mercer's reduced schedule comes at a time when the county is making plans to build a new passenger terminal, but even so, the county says there is no cause for concern since the airport continues to be profitable for the airline.
"Although we'd love to see the airline fly to destinations that would please all the eager travelers ... Frontier's ultra-low cost business model is tightly wound around supply and demand," county spokeswoman Julie Willmot said. "Popular destinations such as Orlando get beefed up, while destinations that don't fill planes are shifted seasonally or discontinued. All in all, Frontier tells us they are very pleased with the consistency and profitability of the Mercer region."
Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.