Frontier presents its new plane "Bori" dedicated to the Coquí Llanero

Ultra-low-fare airline Frontier Airlines today unveiled its newest aircraft, an A321neo named “Bori” with a Coquí Llanero on its tail, a species of frog native to Puerto Rico.

"Bori, el Coquí Llanero" pays homage to the Caribbean island, 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 throughout the island. Frontier has announced a large increase in service in recent months, increasing the total number of routes it operates from Puerto Rico from 11 to 20. 

Each Frontier aircraft has a tail animal with a special name and backstory. Last year, the airline ran a Tropical Tails contest, featuring 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 highest vote.

Consumers were then invited to vote on a name for the llanero coquí through 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 is 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 are usually yellowish in color. Their diminutive stature squeezes their vocal range into the highest pitch of almost any frog, barely audible to human ears, making the sound for which they are so famous and named: "Ko-Kee". The llanero coquí is listed as endangered under the United States Endangered Species Act.

"We are delighted to be in Puerto Rico to reveal Bori to the world," said Tyri Squyres, vice president of marketing for Frontier Airlines. “The introduction of this very special aircraft tail dedicated to Puerto Rico and our continued growth in service to the island is indicative of our strong commitment to the people of Puerto Rico. We are excited that this plane tail will help raise awareness about the endangered and treasured lowland coquí of Puerto Rico.”

"One year after announcing that the coquí llanero was selected to appear on the tail of Frontier's new aircraft, we are beyond excited to see Borí, the Coquí, fly for the first time," said Brad Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto Rich. “We are honored to share this Puerto Rican staple with Frontier travelers, who include travelers from Puerto Rico's key markets on the mainland and cities with large diaspora populations. Thank you to our trusted friends and partners at Frontier Airlines for making this possible."

“I thank and congratulate Frontier Airlines for the initiative to highlight the importance of conserving our endemic fauna,” said Anaís Rodríguez, Secretary of Natural and Environmental Resources of Puerto Rico. “Including the image of the llanero coquí on their planes not only helps 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 llanero coquí has ​​the smallest geographic distribution of all coquíes in Puerto Rico, and its only known population is found on the grounds of the former Sabana Seca Naval Base in Toa Baja. We hope that this initiative inspires other companies to join our efforts to conserve the fauna and biodiversity in Puerto Rico,

“We are proud that the design of the tail of this plane features the llanero coquí, 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 raising awareness about endangered species, contributes to spreading the message and recognition of Puerto Rico as a top-level tourist destination. We thank Frontier for continuing to bet on Puerto Rico as a connecting bridge between the United States and the Caribbean."