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Frontier Reports Preliminary August Traffic


Frontier Airlines (Nasdaq: FRNT) today announced preliminary traffic results for August 2002. Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) increased 20.2 percent to 336,176,000 for August 2002 from the same period last year. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 22.7 percent to 538,214,000 for August 2002 from the same period last year. This resulted in a load factor for August 2002 of 62.5 percent, a decrease of 1.3 points from August 2001. The airline carried 357,858 passengers during August 2002, a 17.1 percent increase from August 2001. The airline reported an average fare of $111 for the month of August 2002, a 17.2 percent decrease from August 2001 when the airline`s average fare was $134.

“Although the year-over-year decrease in our average fare during the month of August was disappointing, as communicated in our July 2002 preliminary traffic release, the downward pressure on our average fare was alleviated slightly during August 2002. As a result, our August 2002 average fare was 6.7 percent higher than our average fare during July 2002,” said Sean Menke, vice president of marketing and planning. “As we enter September and the fall period, we are continuing to experience the revenue challenges rampant in our industry. Internally, we will continue to focus on managing our expenses and decreasing our unit costs. In addition, we look forward to opening three new mainline cities later this fall, which we believe will further strengthen Frontier`s network and improve connection opportunities for our customers.”


Currently in its ninth year of operations, Denver-based Frontier Airlines is the second largest jet service carrier at Denver International Airport with a fleet of 34 aircraft and employing approximately 3,000 aviation professionals. Frontier and its affiliate Frontier JetExpress currently serve 34 U.S. cities with 180 daily flights. In 1999, 2000 and 2001, Frontier`s maintenance and engineering department received the Federal Aviation Administration`s highest award, the Diamond Certificate of Excellence, in recognition of 100 percent of its maintenance and engineering employees completing advanced aircraft maintenance training programs. In April 2002, Entrepreneur ranked Frontier one of two “Best Low-Fare Airlines,” and in September 2001, Fortune ranked Frontier 41st on its 100 Fastest Growing Companies list. Frontier provides capacity information and other operating statistics on its Web site, which may be viewed at www.frontierairlines.com.


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