Six Flags Surges 12% on Reopening Plan for First U.S. Theme Park

(Bloomberg) -- Six Flags Entertainment Corp. will reopen its theme park in Oklahoma City on June 5, setting an array of safety protocols for one of the first such debuts in the U.S. since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Frontier City park will reopen with limited capacity and will feature thermal-imaging temperature checks, mandatory face masks and pervasive physical-distancing markers, the Grand Prairie, Texas-based company said in a statement Tuesday.

Six Flags shares rose as much as 12% to $26.39 in New York trading. They were down 48% this year through Friday.

The company didn’t specify the initial attendance limit but said it would be “well below the park’s theoretical capacity.” The first three days will be restricted to Six Flags members and season-pass holders, with visitor counts later gradually increasing through the month of June.

“Frontier City, like all Six Flags parks, is an outdoor attraction that poses a significantly lower risk of exposure than indoor venues,” Six Flags Chief Executive Officer Mike Spanos said in the statement. “Because our parks cover dozens or even hundreds of acres, we can easily manage guest throughput to achieve proper social distancing.”

Besides Six Flags, rival pure-play theme-park operators Cedar Fair LP and SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. have suffered big stock declines this year. Diversified entertainment giants with park operations, such as Walt Disney Co. and Universal Studios parent Comcast Corp., have fallen as well. Disney recently reopened a shopping area at one of its Orlando, Florida, attractions, and Universal presented Florida with a reopening plan last week.

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