Richmond International Airport

[Shakman]

Frontier? isn't that a regional carrier based in Denver? It would be nice to have some non-stops from RIC to Denver, Vegas, Phoenix and Seattle.

Frontier is based out of Denver but they do have numerous flights to the East Coast.

[Lexy]

Shakman is dead on. How ya been Shak???

Here is Frontier Airlines' jets. They use Airbus A319's and they have 2 A318's. They do have a regional carrier (Horizon Airlines), but their contract is about to come up and rumors are they are not going with the same company, but rather a new one. Time will tell, but all flights to the east coast are on mainlines, not regionals.

They have four flights a day to Nashville from Denver, plus a few weekly flights from Nashville to Cancun, Mexico. They are a great company to fly with though!

[wrldcoupe4]

October marks another record month for RIC

How many consecutive record months is it now?

Anyways, Passenger Traffic in October climbed 14.25% over last year with almost 300,000 passengers (299,978) coming through RIC compared to 262,567 in October of 2005.

So far for the year, Passenger Traffic is up 13.56% over 2005.

Cargo traffic was also up by double-digits (11.03%).

[wrldcoupe4]

Also, Ed Slipek offered a great architectural review of the new terminal in last week's Style:

"A brighter, more elegant airport has finally arrived

[asace8888]

Anyone have any idea why runway 16/34 was closed today? I drove by at about 11:30 and saw a Delta MD-88 which usually lands on the longer runway land on 2/20. When I got near the airport I saw there was a truck with a 20 foot X sign on the back of it and many more airport vehicles on the end near Williamsburg Road. Just wondering if it was maintanence or there was a problem with it or maybe some surverying of some kind.

[burt]

Richmond International passed the 3,000,000 passenger mark in November and still has a month to go in the calendar year. This is a record passenger load at RIC.

[eandslee]

Richmond International passed the 3,000,000 passenger mark in November and still has a month to go in the calendar year. This is a record passenger load at RIC.

I read that this morning in the RTD. This is good news because it means we are moving in the right direction. Still, we have a long way to go. I've always compared RIC to Austin, TX's airport (similar size city and similiar size airport) and just about 3-4 years ago, Ausin was reporting about 3 to 3.5 million passengers a year. I just looked to see what their stats were now and they are serving 7.6 million passengers now! WOW! They hit a major growth spurt! I think Richmond can do the same if we continue at this rate of growth. There are some changes I'd like to see though: 1) I'd like to see a parallel runway constructed that is at least 12,000 feet long 2) we need Southwest Airlines and at least one or two international airlines 3) finally, I'd like to see more domestic and international destinations. If we can get these three items, it would boost our passenger service count like it did in Austin and RIC will become so much more of a world class airport with world class destinations!

[Shakman]

Austin, TX is a lot larger than Richmond. However, both metro's are close in size, but Metro Austin is rapidly growing.

[eandslee]

Austin, TX is a lot larger than Richmond. However, both metro's are close in size, but Metro Austin is rapidly growing.

As far as population, Austin has 1.4 million and Richmond sits at about 1.1-1.2 million. Not a HUGE difference, but one thing that is different is the fact that Austin does have a large, world class university within the city and the mindset there is a bit more progressive, hence the rapid growth there. Richmond isn't doing too bad...and I think we have a very bright future as far as growth is concerned.

Edited December 16, 2006 by eandslee

[Shakman]

As far as population, Austin has 1.4 million and Richmond sits at about 1.1-1.2 million. Not a HUGE difference, but one thing that is different is the fact that Austin does have a large, world class university within the city and the mindset there is a bit more progressive, hence the rapid growth there. Richmond isn't doing too bad...and I think we have a very bright future as far as growth is concerned.

Oh! You are referring to metro population. When people just the city's name, coporate boundaries come to mind.

Richmond does have bright future. I just hope transportation can keep up.

[eandslee]

Oh! You are referring to metro population. When people just the city's name, coporate boundaries come to mind.

Richmond does have bright future. I just hope transportation can keep up.

I just like to use metro figures because it takes all of those who would probably use the local airport into consideration. I too hope that Richmond's transportation can keep up. We are moving in the right direction as far as air travel. I'm a bit concerned about ground/rail/commuter travel because there really is no definitive plan in place...just a bunch of small talk.

[Shakman]

I just like to use metro figures because it takes all of those who would probably use the local airport into consideration. I too hope that Richmond's transportation can keep up. We are moving in the right direction as far as air travel. I'm a bit concerned about ground/rail/commuter travel because there really is no definitive plan in place...just a bunch of small talk.

I see your perspective. Yes, the airport does serve the metro area.

With all these suburban developments, it worries me that the lack of urgency with transportation may keep businesses further away from the City. Unfortunately, our government(s) is trying to band-aid the mistakes that have already been made in NoVa and the Hamptons. I guess the trend goes, let's fix it once it fails. If transportation planners use their heads better, they can see that a band-aid cost more money than doing it right the first time.

[burt]

Eric, I think interest in Southeast High Speed Rail is advancing beyond small talk. It's not publicized much, but I think North Carolina rail aspirations toward fast connection to DC and beyond are spurring action in the Raleigh/Petersburg/Richmond/Washington corridor. Talks of planned rail connections from Hampton Roads via Petersburg/and or Richmond are moving ahead as well.

Back to the airport, didn't today's story say November's increase was 13%?

Edited December 16, 2006 by burt

[wrldcoupe4]

Here's some small talk. Youll find comprehensive studies on the potential future of light rail in the Richmond region, as well as high speed rail initiatives between Richmond and other cities. You'll also find long range transit plans for the region

Richmond Regional Planning District Commission

If you read the reports, you'll discover that more than small talk has taken plan on a variety of issues.

Edited December 16, 2006 by wrldcoupe4

[eandslee]

I see your perspective. Yes, the airport does serve the metro area.

With all these suburban developments, it worries me that the lack of urgency with transportation may keep businesses further away from the City. Unfortunately, our government(s) is trying to band-aid the mistakes that have already been made in NoVa and the Hamptons. I guess the trend goes, let's fix it once it fails. If transportation planners use their heads better, they can see that a band-aid cost more money than doing it right the first time.

I totally agree. Virginia leadership needs to be more foreward thinking. Only our votes for people with that way of thinking will change things.

[eandslee]

Here's some small talk. Youll find comprehensive studies on the potential future of light rail in the Richmond region, as well as high speed rail initiatives between Richmond and other cities.

http://www.richmondregional.org/Urban Transp-MPO/MPO Division Categories/lightrail.htm]Richmond Regional Planning District Commission Rail Studies

Here you'll find multiple long range transportation plans for the region:

http://www.richmondregional.org/Urban Transp-MPO/MPO Division Categories/lrtp.htm

Click on some other links as well. Very detailed info on our future transportation IMO.

The problem, of course, is funding. We can talk all we want, but if there's no money, nothing will happen. That's why I've classified this as "small talk". I know that it actually more than small talk, but like burt said, it's not very publicized and therefore doesn't gain much public support that could allow for more funding opportunities. I just hope we can get our ducks in a row and get it all worked out to include funding. Thanks for the links Coupe.

[wrldcoupe4]

The links went all screwy, but i posted a new one for the entire website. Funding is tough to come by, and that's not the fault of poor local planning. The state and federal governments are floundering in their commitments to transit needs.

[rvawoody390]

As far as population, Austin has 1.4 million and Richmond sits at about 1.1-1.2 million. Not a HUGE difference, but one thing that is different is the fact that Austin does have a large, world class university within the city and the mindset there is a bit more progressive, hence the rapid growth there. Richmond isn't doing too bad...and I think we have a very bright future as far as growth is concerned.

Well this will be my first post here on the site, I've followed you guys for the past two years to keep up on all the developments and I check the posts on here every day to hear what's going in the world of Richmond, and I'm actually honored to be on here talking to you guys. You have been my inside sources, and have made me so interested in city affairs that I plan on doing my Eagle Project this upcoming Spring on a beautification project in Richmond, though that's very much in the preliminary stages. I just want to thank y'all for all the insights you've shared with the public and myself and I look forward to getting to know whoever coupe and cadeho and all you aliasized guys are. Anyway, regarding Austin, Richmond isn't even comparable. I don't think the "progressive attitude" of the UT community has led to Austin's growth, so much as 50,000 residents living on a downtown campus that frequent the music and bar scene. Couple that with Austin being a capitol of a state in the heart of the scenic central hills of Texas, as well as home of the SxSW music festival, which my relatives in Lynchburg fly just to go to, and you have a lot of potential for growth. Austin also has a 90,000 seat stadium that attracts people from all over the state to see the Horns play on weekends during the fall, so all in all it isn't a fair comparison to Richmond. We have a very bright future as well, and I'll agree with you on that, and I would love to see us pull up to 7 million in a few years like them, but it won't happen because we don't have the draws that they do, or 50,000 students that families go to visit.

[Cadeho]

Welcome rvawoody! So if we were a bigger college town, we'd have more people? Or at least more people using the airport?

Edited December 17, 2006 by Cadeho

[TBurban]

Great to have you here! I hope to hear more from you in the future

Edited December 17, 2006 by TBurban

[rvawoody390]

Welcome rvawoody! So if we were a bigger college town, we'd have more people? Or at least more people using the airport?

Well eandslee was referencing their development and its rapid pace and yes I think having one of the biggest on-campus populations in the nation (I believe UT is actually top 5) does go a long way. If you've ever been to Austin (which by the way, I would highly recommend it's an awsome city ) you know that without those students that town is nothing. Virtually all the culture and nightlife flows from them, and certainly demand for living space and jobs and so forth are also increased exponentially by them being there. Not to mention the university's arms race with the other Big XII colleges and all the massive construction they've put out in the town, much like our VCU except on a vastly larger scale. I don't neccesarily think that makes them a better city than us, but they certainly have that in their favor as far as increasing development and enticing developers to consider them, IMHO

[TBurban]

Well eandslee was referencing their development and its rapid pace and yes I think having one of the biggest on-campus populations in the nation (I believe UT is actually top 5) does go a long way. If you've ever been to Austin (which by the way, I would highly recommend it's an awsome city ) you know that without those students that town is nothing. Virtually all the culture and nightlife flows from them, and certainly demand for living space and jobs and so forth are also increased exponentially by them being there. Not to mention the university's arms race with the other Big XII colleges and all the massive construction they've put out in the town, much like our VCU except on a vastly larger scale. I don't neccesarily think that makes them a better city than us, but they certainly have that in their favor as far as increasing development and enticing developers to consider them, IMHO

Austin is a cool place to visit. When I lived in Texas, we would go to Austin to watch the bats fly out from under the 1st and Congress St. Bridges. Ill have to dig up the photo albums, see if I grabbed any shots.

[wrldcoupe4]

Welcome to UP rvawoody

I'm glad our ramblings have motivated you to get involved in Richmond. It's a great city that certainly needs some work, but the future potential is boundless.

RIC's performance this year and last has been stunning, and I certainly hope it continues to grow and prosper. I'd love to see the day we get direct flights to the west coast or even some international flights.

[wrldcoupe4]

Airport Stats - November 2006

Passenger traffic in November was up nearly 13% over last November with 290,239 passengers coming through RIC (compared to 257,122 last Nov).

Traffic for the year is up 13.49% and by the end of November we topped 3 million for the first time.

[eandslee]

Airport Stats - November 2006

Passenger traffic in November was up nearly 13% over last November with 290,239 passengers coming through RIC (compared to 257,122 last Nov).

Traffic for the year is up 13.49% and by the end of November we topped 3 million for the first time.

Very, very nice! Thanks for the update Coupe!