Ultra-low fare carrier Frontier Airlines unveiled its newest aircraft, an A321neo featuring Bori the Coquí Llanero on its tail, during a celebration at Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Bori the Coquí Llanero pays tribute to Puerto Rico, which is Frontier’s largest Caribbean destination. The airline serves Puerto Rico from San Juan, Aguadilla and Ponce and has been significantly expanding its operations across the island. Frontier has announced a major increase in service over the past several months, growing the total number of routes it operates from Puerto Rico from 11 to 20. To celebrate, America’s Greenest Airline is offering fares as low as $59.*
Every Frontier aircraft features an animal on its tail with a special name and backstory. Last year, the airline conducted a Tropical Tails contest, which featured endangered species from six different tropical destinations, one of which would be deemed the winner and featured on a future aircraft. The Puerto Rican lowland coquí received the top vote.
Consumers were then invited to vote on a name for the coquí llanero via social media. ‘Bori’ was the resulting winner and is short for Boricua, which is derived from “Borikén” (the Taino Indian name for the island) and used to describe a person from Puerto Rico by birth or descent.
The Puerto Rican lowland coquí is one of the smallest tree frogs in the world. Mature llaneros are no wider than a dime and generally yellowish in color. Their tiny stature squeezes their vocal range into the highest pitch of almost any frog – just barely audible to human ears, making the sound they are so famously known for and named after -- “Ko-Kee.” The coquí llanero is listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
“We’re thrilled to be in Puerto Rico to reveal Bori to the world,” said Tyri Squyres, vice president of marketing, Frontier Airlines. “The introduction of this very special Puerto Rico-dedicated plane tail and our continued growth in service to the island is indicative of our strong commitment to the people of Puerto Rico. We’re excited this plane tail will help raise further awareness for the endangered and treasured Puerto Rican lowland coquí.”
“A year after announcing the coquí llanero was selected to be featured on the tail of Frontier’s new aircraft, we are beyond excited to see Borí, the Coquí, fly for the very first time,” said Brad Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto Rico. “We are honored to share this Puerto Rican staple with Frontier fliers, which includes travelers from Puerto Rico’s key markets in the mainland and cities with large Diaspora populations. Thank you to our friends and trusted partners at Frontier Airlines for making this possible.”
“I appreciate and congratulate Frontier Airlines for the initiative to highlight the importance of the conservation of our endemic fauna,” said Anaís Rodríguez, Secretary of Natural and Environmental Resources of Puerto Rico. “The inclusion of the image of the coquí llanero on their planes not only helps to raise awareness about this unique and endangered species, but also promotes the protection of our natural ecosystems and biodiversity in Puerto Rico. It is important to note that the coquí llanero has the smallest geographical distribution of all the coquís in Puerto Rico, and its only known population is located on the grounds of the former Naval Base at Sabana Seca in Toa Baja. We hope this initiative will inspire other companies to join our efforts to conserve fauna and biodiversity in Puerto Rico, to ensure the preservation of our natural heritage for future generations."
“We are proud that the design of the tail of this plane features the coquí llanero, one of the best-known icons of our Island,” said Carlos Mercado Santiago, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. “This initiative led by Frontier, in addition to creating awareness about endangered species, contributes to expanding the message and recognition of Puerto Rico as a premier tourist destination. We thank Frontier for continuing to bet on Puerto Rico as a connecting bridge between the United States and the Caribbean."
