dxfret

How many flights will Southwest now have at BNA with this expansion — maybe something like 120 flights per day? Will there be enough gates, especially on the C Concourse? American Airlines has Its gates on C , but there is really nowhere for AA to relocate except for the expanded Concourse D. Perhaps they will arrange that giving SWA all of Concourse C With the Amazon announcement and all it will bring to Nashville, the MNAA really needs to look closely to make sure they are expanding the terminal enough to accommodate the future growth of the city and airport. I flew in from SFO this week and the flight was packed as well as the airport terminal. BNA is really, really busy.

It is good to finally see some new construction and development happening in Memphis. Both the city of Memphis and mid south region have been languishing for years.

What happened to the planned pedestrian bridge connecting the Gulch and SoBro areas? It seems like this was first announced years ago, yet absolutely nothing has happened. Is this likely to ever materialize?

I’ve flown the British Airways flight to LHR three times since this service began. Each flight in both directions was almost completely full, including business class. Clearly there is strong demand for this service. BA must be very happy with the flight’s performance to go 7X each week so quickly.

The New York Times love affair with all things Nashville continues with this “36 Hours in Nashville” article. https://nyti.ms/2OtZr2X?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Since Whole Foods Market was purchased by Amazon there have been significant price reductions. If you are an Amazon Prime member and use the Whole Foods app when checking-out, the savings can be significant. Furthermore if you pay using an Amazon Prime Visa card, there are even further savings. Publix is much more expensive than Kroger any day and some of the price differences are HUGE. Kroger stores always seem to be dirty and poorly maintained however they do have some much better locations such as Green Hills, Brentwood, Melrose and Bellevue.

Downtown Memphis continues to struggle and the north end of downtown seems especially desolate. The Bass Pro Shop Pyramid is cut off from by the interstate bridge and there is little else nearby other than vacant lots. There is urban blight all across Memphis, especially the vacant and deteriorating Sterrick Building and 100 North Main. The Mississippi Riverfront has so much potential that has never been tapped. Mud Island is like a ghost town. Beale Street is empty in comparison to the throngs of visitors we see every day of the week on lower Broadway. Such a stark contrast to Nashville.

The loads on the WestJet nonstop flights from BNA to Calgary, Alberta (YYC) are also very strong. Lots of vacationers to/from Banff and Music City.

Sun Country Airlines is the new domestic carrier to serve BNA. Flights to Minneapolis, Miami, Orlando, Fort Meyers and New Orleans. Connections in MSP to west coast. 2 days per week for most service.

Hopefully it will be another European destination— Iceland (Icelandair or Wow), or Frankfurt (Condor). BNA’s facilities are stretched right now, not enough gates, baggage claim, check in counters. The completion of those many BNA Vision construction projects are needed ASAP. Th e load factors for the LHR-BNA route were just reported by British Airways as very strong.

The Boeing 787 is perhaps the most advanced commercial aircraft flying. The 787-8 is the smallest version and was designed as a replacement for the old 767s. Seats in economy class on BA, or any airline, are never going to be really comfortable especially for a long haul flight. BA, and most airlines now offer a Premium Economy product (larger more spacious seats, better meals and amenities) for a slightly higher fare. The best features of this particular airplane are the much better cabin pressurization and the large windows with automatic dimming. I would always choose a Boeing 787 or the similar Airbus A350 anytime over the previous generations of widebody aircraft, just as I would always choose a nonstop flight over any type of connecting flight.

Iceland on its own has become a huge and important tourist destination, especially over the past 10 years. Hence there are now two Icelandic Air carriers (Icelandair and WOW Air). Reykjavik is also well served by numerous US and European carriers. It is definitely not always cheap to fly there, especially in summer when there is almost always sunlight. Iceland itself is no longer as important as transfer point for ultra cheap flights to Europe because there are so many nonstop flights to Europe from numerous US cities. If BNA gets service to Reykjavik I hope it will be on Icelandair.

Passenger wise Memphis (MEM) is very weak. There are only 85 total flights per day on all of the carriers flying there. Service to the west coast is miserable.

That is just one of many big box office towers along 6th Ave built in the 60s-70s. Tenants typically are law, advertising, finance and entertainment firms. Bear Stearns had it own tower on Madison Ave. Lehman Bros was in a similar bldg in 7th Ave.

Another prime building spot is the current large parking lot at Church Street and Bank Street, between 1st and 2nd Aves.