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Richmond International Airport


eandslee

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On 11/16/2022 at 7:51 PM, blopp1234 said:

I would be shocked if RIC wasn’t one of the initial routes. Breeze has had a lot of success out of RIC, with the RIC-SFO route consistently ranking near the top of their list in terms of how full the plane is (in June it averaged 93% full!). I’m guessing destinations like Cancun, Punta Cana or Montego Bay could be on the horizon! Here’s to hoping the announcement comes in before Christmas!( would be a nice early present!)

I genuinely hope we have other airlines take note of Breeze's success out of RIC, would be nice to get some competition on these routes. Like San Fran? Have United pop on that route. Las Vegas? Add the jetBlue flight back... (maybe add LAX back while their at it), or, like someone in this thread said before, have Southwest expand due to them recovering from the shortage, maybe to some international destinations. They gotta continue their other discontinued routes first from here like Orlando and Denver (kinda denver, although it's "technically" seasonal.

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Looks like you can start flying to Provo/Salt Lake City, UT from RIC starting on 17 Feb 2023...the catch?  You fly to SFO first as a "Breeze Thru."  Same thing on the way back.  While not a nonstop flight, it's the first time I've ever seen such a flight to Utah from RIC.  Has this been advertised?  I haven't seen any news of this anywhere and I wouldn't have known had I not gone on Breeze's website and was looking at how well all flights are being booked to and from RIC (which are looking pretty good for flights that are coming soon).

Edited by eandslee
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14 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Looks like you can start flying to Provo/Salt Lake City, UT from RIC starting on 17 Feb 2023...the catch?  You fly to SFO first as a "Breeze Thru."  Same thing on the way back.  While not a nonstop flight, it's the first time I've ever seen such a flight to Utah from RIC.  Has this been advertised?  I haven't seen any news of this anywhere and I wouldn't have known had I not gone on Breeze's website and was looking at how well all flights are being booked to and from RIC (which are looking pretty good for flights that are coming soon).

So I wonder if - at some point - that transitions to separate direct service to Salt Lake City?

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5 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean would be the most likely destinations to start should it happen, Bell says, but he'd love to see nonstop to Europe out of RIC one day too.

Very excitinggg! I believe Cancun is the highest PDEW international destination out of RIC currently. Could definitely see jetBlue or a low-cost carrier poppin in for that. 

Edited by Niccckk
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23 minutes ago, Niccckk said:

Very excitinggg! I believe Cancun is the highest PDEW international destination out of RIC currently. Could definitely see jetBlue or a low-cost carrier poppin in for that. 

That would be a great re-introduction to international service for RIC. I'm VERY excited to see that all three of the old international destinations - the Caribbean, Mexico AND Canada are on the docket right out of the box - and that Troy Bell is putting the idea of direct service to Europe out there into the public square - and "not keeping the lit candle hidden underneath the bushel basket" to paraphrase a famous quote.

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6 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

Axios Richmond had a great feature this morning on the dramatic increase in non-stop flights underway to/from RIC.

The key takeaways (taken directly from the Axios Richmond report):

The number of nonstop flights out of Richmond has nearly doubled since the pandemic.

Las Vegas, San Francisco, New Orleans, Tampa, Charleston and, as of May 2023, Minneapolis/St. Paul are just a few of the nonstop routes new to Richmond since 2020.

What's happening: More low-cost carriers and airlines experimenting with new routes during the pandemic drove a lot of the expansion, Troy Bell, director of marketing for Richmond International Airport, tells Axios.

What they're saying: "If you're an airline looking at markets, there's a lot to like about Richmond," Bell says.

  • The region's booming sports tourism, for example, is attractive to carriers.
  • And statistics that show Richmond workers returned to the office at higher rates than in other cities are something airlines like to see as it means more potential business travelers.

Why it matters: Connecting flights are the worst, but from an airport's perspective, nonstop routes can boost bookings by 50% or more, Bell says.

By the numbers: In July 2020, there were 18 nonstop routes out of RIC. In July 2023, there will be 33.

  • Summer is the benchmark since seven of the 15 routes added in recent years are seasonal, Bell says.

Some carriers use seasonal routes as a way to test the waters in a market before expanding, Bell says, and others start small in Richmond before eventually expanding.

What's next: There's a lot of demand for more nonstop service to the west, with LA and Seattle at the top of the wish list, Bell says.

And RIC is currently updating its customs facility, which could open the door for nonstop international flights as soon as next year.

Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean would be the most likely destinations to start should it happen, Bell says, but he'd love to see nonstop to Europe out of RIC one day too.

https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-richmond-1e6642c6-2db5-42cb-957c-605bfd3d6724.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslocal_richmond&stream=top

 

RIC-direct1.jpg

Yeah, this article is great!  I just wish that RBS would have done the story. I still think there is more for RBS to research and investigate regarding the airport. In addition to what Axios mentioned, I think it would be great to get updates on the new Cargo Terminal, the projected use of the 166 acres the airport bought last year at the north east end of the airport. What are the next terminal expansion plans and what would it take to get it started?  Also, what is the airport doing to lure more airlines/nonstop routes/international routes (In addition to the international gate/customs upgrade)?  What about the parallel runway that’s in the master plan….how far off are we to get that built?  What is the airport doing to advocate better mass transit to the airport (such as BRT expansion)…the list goes on and on!!  I’ve got more if you need the ideas!!

Edited by eandslee
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52 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Yeah, this article is great!  I just wish that RBS would have done the story. I still think there is more for RBS to research and investigate regarding the airport. In addition to what Axios mentioned, I think it would be great to get updates on the new Cargo Terminal, the projected use of the 166 acres the airport bought last year at the north east end of the airport. What are the next terminal expansion plans and what would it take to get it started?  Also, what is the airport doing to lure more airlines/nonstop routes/international routes (In addition to the international gate upgrade)?  What about the parallel runway that’s in the master plan….how far off are we to get that built?  What is the airport doing to advocate better mass transit to the airport (such as BRT expansion)…the list goes on and on!!  I’ve got more if you need the ideas!!

image.png.a781d21286a3f715563db32a1413c2f4.png on ALL of these points, @eandslee

Even though I know Mike is as active as his schedule allows on the forums, perhaps draft up something with each of these items as bullet points and send to Mike directly. These are HUGE questions that really do require some answers.

Even though I think we probably (in a way) already know the answer to at least some of these -- "more traffic" - as in outstripping the terminal's capacity, filling existing flights, yada yada, the questions still need to be asked. I get the feeling there is still an overriding mindset of risk aversion and a real hesitancy among the powers that be to spend money up front as an investment in the future. Meaning - build a better mousetrap first - so that they will come later. The classic old-school Virginia mindset of "fiscal conservatism" just can't seem to allow for more progressive thinking when it comes to municipal development - despite the fact that you and I both know that an expanded airport would NOT sit empty and idle. Would it take a while to see significant ROI? Probably - but then again, we might be surprised! Invest the money - expand the terminal - get even just ONE parallel runway built (build out the second one with the other runway reorientation later) and pitch a bigger, better tent to the airlines and see if they bite. No guarantee that the airlines wouldn't hold a hard line about "market size" and "filling flights" - but who knows?

If you try and fail - okay, that's potentially bad. But if you don't even try - not only do you prevent failure - you prevent success. To me, that's worse than at least trying and faceplanting. I'm probably in the vast minority on this one - but I honestly don't look at it as a waste of money to at least try - make the investment, do everything in your power to make the investment stand up - and if you fail, okay. It is what it is. But I DO view it as a COLOSSAL waste of time to not even try, just out of fear that some might view the effort as fiscally "wasteful".  Maybe I'm wrong - but I honestly think the odds of "hitting the jackpot" with an investment such as this are FAR greater than would be the odds of hitting the jackpot by plunking a dollar down at a convenience store on a lottery ticket or dropping a quarter into a slot machine at a casino somewhere.

Edited by I miss RVA
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I definitely like the direction this is going. Movement is progress in this case. 

Are both concourses "built out" equally at this point with the Concourse A expansion complete? I'm curious if the international flights - once they're established - will be grouped together in one concourse or the other? (I'm guessing it would be in the concourse closest to the new/renovated customs facility, which by these renderings seems to be Concourse B...)

Edited by I miss RVA
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RIC just posted their statistics for October and I’m encouraged by seeing just under 12k passengers away from serving 400k passengers for the month.  Haven’t seen that in a while!  Also, the numbers for October is an 11.47% increase over October 2022!

See all the stats for October here: https://flyrichmond.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/RIC-OCT22-Activity-Report.pdf

 

056C8052-EBE0-44E5-9443-A95E3AD99395.jpeg

Edited by eandslee
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17 minutes ago, eandslee said:

RIC just posted their statistics for October and I’m encouraged by seeing just under 12k passengers away from serving 400k passengers for the month.  Haven’t seen that in a while!  Also, the numbers for October is an 11.47% increase over October 2022!

See all the stats for October here: https://flyrichmond.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/RIC-OCT22-Activity-Report.pdf

 

056C8052-EBE0-44E5-9443-A95E3AD99395.jpeg

We could top 4 M passengers for full year 2022 - which would be a LOT closer to pre-pandemic levels. Still MUCH lower than I want - but a step in the right direction.

Cargo if off though by 4% - Now given that inflation and supply chain hiccups aren't "U.S. problems" but rather are GLOBAL problems impacting EVERYONE, I wonder if this is common across most airports?

Edited by I miss RVA
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1 minute ago, eandslee said:

New changes to Breeze’s schedule coming up in May 2023.  All of these are increases of service:

https://ishrionaviation.com/news/breeze-airways-updates-pvd-base-new-transcon-routes

  • Richmond (RIC) to San Francisco (SFO) increases from 2x to 3x weekly effective May 18

  • Richmond (RIC) to Las Vegas (LAS) increases from 4x to 5x weekly effective May 19

  • Richmond (RIC) to Charleston (CHS) increases from 2x to 3x weekly effective May 18

YES!!! Wow - this follows exactly along the lines of what Troy Bell said in the Axios Richmond article last week about the comings and goings at RIC. Nice to see Breeze bumping up service, especially with two of the three routes being transcon service. That puts the ball in our court tho - we gotta keep those planes full to the point of popping rivets! 

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9 hours ago, eandslee said:

New changes to Breeze’s schedule coming up in May 2023.  All of these are increases of service:

https://ishrionaviation.com/news/breeze-airways-updates-pvd-base-new-transcon-routes

  • Richmond (RIC) to San Francisco (SFO) increases from 2x to 3x weekly effective May 18

  • Richmond (RIC) to Las Vegas (LAS) increases from 4x to 5x weekly effective May 19

  • Richmond (RIC) to Charleston (CHS) increases from 2x to 3x weekly effective May 18

And including this, our Jacksonsville seasonal flight will be coming back... and apparently we might be getting RIC - RDU? Which seems like an odd combo considering we're like 3 hours away by car? But then again we have flights to IAD so what am I to say.

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51 minutes ago, Niccckk said:

And including this, our Jacksonsville seasonal flight will be coming back... and apparently we might be getting RIC - RDU? Which seems like an odd combo considering we're like 3 hours away by car? But then again we have flights to IAD so what am I to say.

Wow!  Where did you find out about this?  I was hoping Breeze would start up an LAX transcon flight from RIC, but instead I think they will base that one out of ORF.  BNA would be good to compete with Allegiant…who only flies there once or twice a week.  I think there is more demand than that for that route. 

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4 hours ago, Niccckk said:

And including this, our Jacksonsville seasonal flight will be coming back... and apparently we might be getting RIC - RDU? Which seems like an odd combo considering we're like 3 hours away by car? But then again we have flights to IAD so what am I to say.

Well, here it is @Niccckk!  You called it!

https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/breeze-flights-raleigh-durham-december-07-2022

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