Frontier Group revives plans to sell shares in new airline IPO

Frontier Group Holdings Inc. revived its plan to go public as expectations build for a recovery in flights after last year’s unprecedented travel collapse.

Pent-up demand for leisure trips will spur a rebound as vaccination campaigns ease the coronavirus pandemic, the budget airline said in a regulatory filing Monday outlining its plans for an initial public offering. The company withdrew its potential IPO in July as passengers all but vanished from airlines.“We believe we are well positioned to take advantage of the anticipated demand recovery as vaccine distribution continues,” Frontier said in the filing.A share sale by Frontier would be the second U.S. airline IPO of the year as carriers bet on a rebound in flying. Sun Country Airlines Holdings Inc. is seeking to raise as much as $209 million in its offering, according to a separate regulatory filing. Frontier in its filing included a listing size of $100 million, a placeholder amount that’s likely to change.

Frontier, which is led by Chief Executive Officer Barry Biffle and Chairman William Franke, intends to list its shares on Nasdaq under the symbol FRNT. Underwriters include Citigroup Inc. Barclays Plc, Deutsche Bank AG, Morgan Stanley and Evercore ISI.