By the Caribbean Journal staff

Low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines has launched a major new expansion of its flight service to Puerto Rico.

In a huge boost for the still-recovering destination, Frontier has launched new daily nonstop flights from both Long Island-Islip and Miami to San Juan’s Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport.

Frontier also launched a new route from Raleigh-Durham to San Juan, with nonstop flights operating to Puerto Rico twice weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Frontier has been operating flights to Puerto Rico since June of 2017.

Frontier is operating the new flights on its Airbus A320 aircraft with a capacity of 180 seats.

The year-round, daily Miami flight will add 17,700 seats per year to San Juan, while the Raleigh and Islip flights will total a combined 33,000 annual visitors.

“We celebrate the arrival of these new routes, and we thank Frontier Airlines for betting on Puerto Rico and contributing to the restoration and strengthening of air access to the island,” said Carla Campos, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. “[Air access] is fundamental for the growth of the tourism industry and the economic development of Puerto Rico.”

The Serafina Beach Hotel opened last month.

While much of the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico has been seeing a remarkable tourism recovery centered around its tourism hub in San Juan.

More and more hotels are reopening each month (most notably the recent return of the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar), while the island has also been adding new hotels, from last month’s debut of the new Serafina Beach Hotel in San Juan’s Condado neighborhood to the soon-to-launch OLV:55 luxe boutique.