Richmond International Airport

[eandslee]

Today is a historic day for Richmond International Airport.  Today marks the first time in history that RIC has seen transcontinental flights marked by a direct, nonstop flight from RIC to LAX on JetBlue.  The flight will depart RIC at about 9:00am this morning and arrive at LAX at about 11:50am local time. There will be a return flight that leaves LAX at 10:28am local time and arrive at RIC at 6:05pm.  The route will be served by Airbus A320 both ways. Originally announced to be daily flights, JetBlue later announced flights for select days in December and daily service will begin in early January 2021. 
 

In 2 days (20 Dec), we will begin to see JetBlue direct, nonstop flights from RIC to LAS - another popular destination from RIC on Airbus A320 aircraft.  Again, originally announced to be daily flights, JetBlue decided that daily flights will not begin until early January 2021.  Instead, JetBlue will fly to LAS from RIC on select days in December. 
 

It’s a big day at the airport today!  Let’s hope and pray these routes remain at RIC and that they be so popular, other airlines will offer competitive service...even expanded service!

Congratulations RIC!  Today is your day!! 
 

Flight will depart RIC bound for LAX on this very aircraft:

 

Edited December 18, 2020 by eandslee

[I miss RVA]

6 hours ago, eandslee said:

Today is a historic day for Richmond International Airport.  Today marks the first time in history that RIC has seen transcontinental flights marked by a direct, nonstop flight from RIC to LAX on JetBlue.  The flight will depart RIC at about 9:00am this morning and arrive at LAX at about 11:50am local time. There will be a return flight that leaves LAX at 10:28am local time and arrive at RIC at 6:05pm.  The route will be served by Airbus A320 both ways. Originally announced to be daily flights, JetBlue later announced flights for select days in December and daily service will begin in early January 2021. 
 

In 2 days (20 Dec), we will begin to see JetBlue direct, nonstop flights from RIC to LAS - another popular destination from RIC on Airbus A320 aircraft.  Again, originally announced to be daily flights, JetBlue decided that daily flights will not begin until early January 2021.  Instead, JetBlue will fly to LAS from RIC on select days in December. 
 

It’s a big day at the airport today!  Let’s hope and pray these routes remain at RIC and that they be so popular, other airlines will offer competitive service...even expanded service!

Congratulations RIC!  Today is your day!! 
 

Flight will depart RIC bound for LAX on this very aircraft:

 

AMEN, my friend!! AMEN!!! Let's hope and pray both of these routes REALLLY take off, even with Covid. This is a huge day in Richmond history -- hopefully the start of a tremendous next-step in Richmond's evolution to a major city!

Edited December 18, 2020 by I miss RVA

[eandslee]

So today marked the inaugural direct, nonstop flight between RIC & LAS (Las Vegas).  Not sure of the passenger load in today’s flight yet, but in the past couple days, I tried to gauge how successful this route is right now by doing mock bookings on the airline’s website (not an exact science, but it’s a general idea).  Originally advertised as daily service (both ways),  it will be anything but that in January (as I have discovered) and perhaps beyond. In January, it appears that JetBlue will fly this route only twice a week...well into February.  Only in March/April timeframe does it show daily service, but given the prices of the flights, there doesn’t appear to be much demand that far out right now.  I gotta say though $200 round trip to Vegas is a screaming deal!!  Anyway, my fingers are crossed, hoping that both of these routes (LAX and LAS) are successful and become permanent.  Even more, it would be awesome to see JetBlue expand service at RIC.  With 6 destinations served out of RIC (BOS, FLL, MCO, TPA, LAX, LAS), JetBlue has established somewhat of a mini focus at RIC. Let’s give them reason to expand their focus here and make it a hub!  Tell your friends/family to book now and book often!  RIC now has the space (in the expanded Concourse A) to make it easy for expanded service!  Would love to see it!

Edited December 20, 2020 by eandslee

[Henrico Weather]

Another story on it this morning...More "non-traditional" city pairs

[I miss RVA]

Glad to see RIC picking up some national press.

[eandslee]

Some bad news folks:

I just saw where JetBlue is cutting the Richmond-Las Vegas route in January/February and there is a good chance that it might not ever return.  This COVID environment is just killing air travel and I guess JetBlue was trying anything to see what would stick. Well, doesn’t look like Richmond helped on the LAS route, so we will lose it...sadly. Here’s my reference:

Scroll down to “JetBlue Takes Down February.”

https://crankyflier.com/2020/12/28/jetblue-cuts-february-allegiant-plans-the-summer-and-delta-retaliates/
 

Edited December 29, 2020 by eandslee

[benstyree]

4 hours ago, eandslee said:

Some bad news folks:

I just saw where JetBlue is cutting the Richmond-Las Vegas route in January/February and there is a good chance that it might not ever return.  This COVID environment is just killing air travel and I guess JetBlue was trying anything to see what would stick. Well, doesn’t look like Richmond helped on the LAS route, so we will lose it...sadly. Here’s my reference:

Scroll down to “JetBlue Takes Down February.”

https://crankyflier.com/2020/12/28/jetblue-cuts-february-allegiant-plans-the-summer-and-delta-retaliates/
 

Damn, that sucks if it's true.  Hopefully you're wrong about the likelihood of never coming back.  Although unlikely in the next year or two, there's now at least a record of an airline seeing some demand for this route.  It would be pretty unfair to the Richmond region if our only shot at a Vegas flight was in the middle of an industry-crippling pandemic.  Here's hoping the LAX route is doing well.

Edit - on second read, I don't think that article necessarily means this is a permanent cut by JetBlue.  This is just their February schedule, which hopefully means that it can and will be reinstated.

Edited December 29, 2020 by benstyree

[Icetera]

10 minutes ago, benstyree said:

Damn, that sucks if it's true.  Hopefully you're wrong about the likelihood of never coming back.  Although unlikely in the next year or two, there's now at least a record of an airline seeing some demand for this route.  It would be pretty unfair to the Richmond region if our only shot at a Vegas flight was in the middle of an industry-crippling pandemic.  Here's hoping the LAX route is doing well.

Edit - on second read, I don't think that article necessarily means this is a permanent cut by JetBlue.  This is just their February schedule, which hopefully means that it can and will be reinstated.

If it does return, I have a group itching for a Vegas trip later in the year and we much prefer JetBlue to American Airlines.

[wrldcoupe4]

Honestly I was surprised they were adding any flight from Richmond in the middle of the pandemic.  

[Downtowner]

Yes as I’ve said before why on earth would you add flights during a pandemic? Makes zero sense when nobody will fly. I doubt we ever see anymore western flights again after that. Makes me so mad. I’m so sick and tired of all the airliners only giving us flights to Florida thats all our airport has. way too many flights to Florida If I see one more flight to Florida being expanded here I am going to puke tired of it.


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[DowntownCoruscant]

3 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

Honestly I was surprised they were adding any flight from Richmond in the middle of the pandemic.  

Ditching it so soon is insane. My wife and I were definitely going to fly JB from RIC to Vegas at the earliest available post-pandemic opportunity.

[flack4ric]

Regarding JetBlue schedules for Richmond-Las Vegas:

1. Go to https://www.jetblue.com/best-fare-finder
2. Enter from Richmond, to Las Vegas.
3. Load fares for January, March, or later.
4. Schedule your nonstop JetBlue flight from RIC to LAS.

Save $ for games, shows, dinners, shopping, the Neon Museum, etc., etc., etc. And remember, the block time is about 30 minutes shorter for the ride home.

[eandslee]

So I guess the termination of the Vegas flights in February are just temporary and an evaluation of Vegas tickets sales will be made to determine if it is worth it to continue the route?  Keeping my fingers crossed that the route comes back and continues after February.  Thanks Flack!

[eandslee]

Looks like flights that were paused when the pandemic began at the airport are ramping back up a little bit this new year.  I noticed today that there is a flight on a 737 that will be arriving to RIC from MSP via Delta Airlines tonight.  Doesn't look to be daily yet, but this route is just beginning to show signs of life again. 

Another route that was paused when the pandemic began will begin again tomorrow:  RIC to IAH on United Airlines (on a A319) looks to begin its first flight on this route in many months.  Just another sign of things very slowly moving in the right direction.  These are both positive signs and it feels good to see. 

Edited January 5, 2021 by eandslee

[georgeglass]

Not sure if it would help RIC, but we were actually scheduled to fly from Raleigh to New Orleans in a few weeks on Spirit. We booked this because we could fly non-stop. Well, a few weeks ago Spirit cut the route and also wasn't flying to or from where we needed on the days we needed any longer. So...we ended up rebooking and flying United out of RIC connecting through DC (it was only about 30 bucks less to fly out of DC direct). Anyway, perhaps Spirit cutting their volume at RDU could push a few people to RIC??? 

We are actually flying from RIC to ATL in January too. I just got the 2nd dose of Pfizer vaccine so hopefully more people will be able to travel in the coming months.

[eandslee]

Now that is a route that I think RIC should have - RIC-MSY (New Orleans).  It would be hard for me to believe that there aren't many people traveling to New Orleans from Richmond (especially during Mardi Gras...but throughout the year).  Would love to see Spirit add this route for sure from RIC.

@georgeglass - thanks for using RIC as your plans changed.  Hopefully, as more people use RIC for their travel needs, new routes will be added.  The airlines use the destinations that travelers fly to from RIC to decide which flights/routes to add when considering expanded service.  It is very important that RIC be used as much as practically possible for this reason.  

I hope the vaccine boosts the number of passengers at RIC.  The airport could use a "shot in the arm" (pun intended).

Edited January 5, 2021 by eandslee

[Downtowner]

Not sure if it would help RIC, but we were actually scheduled to fly from Raleigh to New Orleans in a few weeks on Spirit. We booked this because we could fly non-stop. Well, a few weeks ago Spirit cut the route and also wasn't flying to or from where we needed on the days we needed any longer. So...we ended up rebooking and flying United out of RIC connecting through DC (it was only about 30 bucks less to fly out of DC direct). Anyway, perhaps Spirit cutting their volume at RDU could push a few people to RIC??? 
We are actually flying from RIC to ATL in January too. I just got the 2nd dose of Pfizer vaccine so hopefully more people will be able to travel in the coming months.

My wife got her second dose Pfizer vaccine today she is a nurse at henrico but today is her last day and she is starting at vcu in short pump on Monday the 11th.


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[eandslee]

5 minutes ago, Downtowner said:

My wife got her second dose Pfizer vaccine today she is a nurse at henrico but today is her last day and she is starting at vcu in short pump on Monday the 11th.


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I know that a lot of healthcare workers are getting the vaccine.  These are also the folks (that I've been told) were not allowed to fly anywhere.  I hope that changes for healthcare workers as they get the vaccine.  I hope this also brings back some business travelers RIC.  I want to see an uptick in passenger numbers!

[I miss RVA]

In light of the pandemic, we'll take wins when and where we can get them. At least cargo is thriving at RIC.

From Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2021/02/11/record-cargo-volume-at-ric-was-a-bright-spot-in-otherwise-dark-2020/

 

[eandslee]

So there is no press about this, mostly because it’s not newsworthy as in “good news,” but I just wanted to post how the airport did in January 2021 (last month) and it’s not good.  Dismal even. The airport served 111,151 passengers last month compared to 320,991 in January 2020.  That’s really tough for me to report. It’s very sad what the pandemic has done to the airline/travel industry.  The good news is that, as I monitor the flights coming in and out of the airport, it appears that passenger numbers are increasing ever so slightly. We are still a long way away from the pre-pandemic numbers, but I’m encouraged.  We haven’t totally lost direct flights to LAS or LAX yet, but they are not flying right now either.  Every once in a while there is a flight to LAX but even then, there may be 30 passengers on the flight, if we’re lucky. We knew that JetBlue was canceling all of its February flight to LAS, but I’m not sure they are going to start them up in March either. We will see what happens. 
 

A bright spot is cargo, which has really increased at RIC during the pandemic, but unless we are a cargo hub, its not a huge, significant economic impact.  We are an Amazon Air node though, which is more than most airports can say right now (I’ll take it!). 
 

With all that said, I still think the future is bright (it can only get better from here)!  This summer may prove to be a good bump in passenger traffic with many people getting the vaccine.  My fingers are crossed!

https://flyrichmond.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/RIC-JAN21-Activity-Report.pdf

Edited February 25, 2021 by eandslee

[Downtowner]

1 hour ago, eandslee said:

So there is no press about this, mostly because it’s not newsworthy as in “good news,” but I just wanted to post how the airport did in January 2021 (last month) and it’s not good.  Dismal even. The airport served 111,151 passengers last month compared to 320,991 in January 2020.  That’s really tough for me to report. It’s very sad what the pandemic has done to the airline/travel industry.  The good news is that, as I monitor the flights coming in and out of the airport, it appears that passenger numbers are increasing ever so slightly. We are still a long way away from the pre-pandemic numbers, but I’m encouraged.  We haven’t totally lost direct flights to LAS or LAX yet, but they are not flying right now either.  Every once in a while there is a flight to LAX but even then, there may be 30 passengers on the flight, if we’re lucky. We knew that JetBlue was canceling all of its February flight to LAS, but I’m not sure they are going to start them up in March either. We will see what happens. 
 

A bright spot is cargo, which has really increased at RIC during the pandemic, but unless we are a cargo hub, its not a huge, significant economic impact.  We are an Amazon Air node though, which is more than most airports can say right now (I’ll take it!). 
 

With all that said, I still think the future is bright (it can only get better from here)!  This summer may prove to be a good bump in passenger traffic with many people getting the vaccine.  My fingers are crossed!

https://flyrichmond.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/RIC-JAN21-Activity-Report.pdfmy 

Well I will say I know of a few friends of mine yesterday who flew to salt like city while it’s not a direct destination they at least flew out of Richmond. I hope passenger traffic really starts to pick up by the start of summer. I think spring will be decent at least hopefully. 

[JSI]

My family is planning to fly out of RIC to Florida for spring break (early April). First time flying in over a year.

[eandslee]

This is all very encouraging!  Thanks for the reports and keep promoting RIC!  Hopefully, we’ll see better passenger numbers soon!

[Icetera]

I also took advantage of direct flights to Miami for some social distanced SCUBA Jan-Feb.  As my first flight since pandemic (usually a big traveler) the experience was not bad.

[My2cent]

I just came across of this does  anyone know what  new building we are getting at RIC?