By Greg Halbleib

BLOOMINGTON – An airline is returning to Bloomington with new non-stop flights to Denver and Orlando.

Frontier Airlines announced this morning that it’s returning to Central Illinois Regional Airport after an absence of more than three years after re-inventing itself as a low-cost carrier.

Frontier’s director of corporate communications Jonathan Freed said the airline has changed its pricing structure to what he calls an a la carte style.

“If where you sit is not that important to you and you’re willing to take a seat assignment the day that you show up to fly, and you’re traveling light enough that you can fit under the seat in front of you whatever you’re bringing with you, you can fly for sometimes as little as $20,” Freed explained.

He added that the new structure is not a loss leader for the airline, but a way to attract customers, including those who may not fly often if at all.

“We had been here before, and that was the previous incarnation of Frontier. Our old business model was not sustainable,” Freed said. “We have reinvented ourselves as a low-cost carrier built to do business the way that we’re doing it now.”

Frontier’s introductory one-way rate for its new flights to Denver and Orlando from CIRA is 39 dollars.

CIRA director Carl Olson said the return of Frontier is part of a constant effort to grow the facility’s service.

“We’ve had meetings with a number of airlines just within the last couple of weeks,” Olson said. “This is a process, not a project. It takes many months, and in some cases years, to attract a service and show them that they can be profitable here.”

Frontier’s new flights begin in late September to Denver and early October to Orlando.

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].