Richmond International Airport

[wrldcoupe4]

Richmond Lands 3rd Low-Fare Airline: Startup "Skybus Airlines"

Richmond is getting a third low-fare carrier Skybus Airlines -- starting May 23 with one daily round-trip flight to Columbus, Ohio. The start-up airline is touting tickets as low as $10 for one-way flights on its Web site.

Airport officials said they expect to draw travelers from as far away as Washington, D.C., to take advantage of the ultra-low discount fares.

www.skybus.com

According to their website, flights to and from Richmond will begin on May 23rd.

________________________________________________________________________

ALSO, March was a great month for passenger counts, as RIC experienced a nearly 17% increase. 299,162 passengers went through the airport, compared with 255,885 last March. This is on top of the 14% and 16% growth in January and February respectively.

Edited April 24, 2007 by wrldcoupe4

[wrldcoupe4]

Skybus will be using Airbus A319's on all flights. Their "hub" is Columbus, Ohio. Other destinations include LA (burbank), Boston (Portsmouth NH), Kansas City, Ft. Lauderdale, Vancouver & Seattle (Bellingham, WA), and Greensboro, NC.

Planes will be flying billboards, with ads from various companies:

http://www.flightglobal.com/assets/getAsse...px?ItemID=17209

The $10 a flight deal will be in existence permanently. However, the catch is that only about 10 passengers per plane will be eligible on a first come first serve basis.

[eandslee]

Skybus will be using Airbus A319's on all flights. Their "hub" is Columbus, Ohio. Other destinations include LA (burbank), Boston (Portsmouth NH), Kansas City, Ft. Lauderdale, Vancouver & Seattle (Bellingham, WA), and Greensboro, NC.

Planes will be flying billboards, with ads from various companies:

http://www.flightglobal.com/assets/getAsse...px?ItemID=17209

The $10 a flight deal will be in existence permanently. However, the catch is that only about 10 passengers per plane will be eligible on a first come first serve basis.

Wow! I've never heard of this airline, but this is phenomenal! This will attract huge numbers from surrounding areas including DC to Richmond! And really, the fares are $10 each leg (looks like you have to fly to Columbus, OH first and then off to your destination). What a cool idea! I sure hope it is successful! Thanks Coupe for the quick information!

[wrldcoupe4]

RIC Press Release: Richmond Among First Skybus Destinations

[Icetera]

RIC Press Release: Richmond Among First Skybus Destinations

One point to note in there is that Columbus, the 15th largest city in the U.S., only has one more Fortune 1000 company in comparison to much smaller Richmond

[MicoMiles]

Skybus will be using Airbus A319's on all flights. Their "hub" is Columbus, Ohio. Other destinations include LA (burbank), Boston (Portsmouth NH), Kansas City, Ft. Lauderdale, Vancouver & Seattle (Bellingham, WA), and Greensboro, NC.

Planes will be flying billboards, with ads from various companies:

http://www.flightglobal.com/assets/getAsse...px?ItemID=17209

The $10 a flight deal will be in existence permanently. However, the catch is that only about 10 passengers per plane will be eligible on a first come first serve basis.

The $10.00 deal is only good til Dec. 15, 07 for at least 10 seats !!!!!!!

The start-up carrier, which has raised $160 million from investors, will have at least 10 seats available for $10 on its flights through Dec. 15. The $10 tickets don't include taxes and fees.

Last-minute fares run as high as $330, spokesman Bob Tenenbaum said.

This airline is a joke........ Remember, you get what you pay for......... and you have to pay for everything, including checking in baggage.

http://ask.skybus.com/about/rules-of-flying.shtml

I'd rather fly AirTran or JetBlue.

[wrldcoupe4]

[skycity]

One point to note in there is that Columbus, the 15th largest city in the U.S., only has one more Fortune 1000 company in comparison to much smaller Richmond

You are right that Columbus is larger, but it is better to compare metro area populations. City populations are not really a good way of getting the true numbers because they are effected by land size. For example, Boston or San Francisco would look much smaller than San Antonio. That being said, your point still holds true:

2006 metro area population

Columbus:

1,777,539 (between 2000 and 2006 grew at 7.0%)

Norfolk:

1,649,457 (between 2000 and 2006 grew at 4.6%)

Richmond:

1,194,008 (between 2000 and 2006 grew at 8.8%)

Richmond is now 43rd largest US metro. Columbus is 32nd largest. When it comes to Fortune 500's I think we are way ahead of many cities. We have many more headquarters than Baltimore or Portland, OR last time I checked.

Edited April 25, 2007 by skycity

[Icetera]

You are right that Columbus is larger, but it is better to compare metro area populations. City populations are not really a good way of getting the true numbers because they are effected by land size. For example, Boston or San Francisco would look much smaller than San Antonio. That being said, your point still holds true:

2006 metro area population

Columbus:

1,777,539 (between 2000 and 2006 grew at 7.0%)

Norfolk:

1,649,457 (between 2000 and 2006 grew at 4.6%)

Richmond:

1,194,008 (between 2000 and 2006 grew at 8.8%)

Richmond is now 43rd largest US metro. Columbus is 32nd largest. When it comes to Fortune 500's I think we are way ahead of many cities. We have many more headquarters than Baltimore or Portland, OR last time I checked.

I found how they mentioned Columbus having 14 Fortune 1000 companies entertaining. Where did you find the metro ranks? All I could locate were the top 20 U.S. metro areas. I expected the Columbus metro to be larger in comparison. Either way, Richmond looks pretty good.

[skycity]

This link has the latest metro population numbers:

http://content.hamptonroads.com/story_wide...&ran=194125

It looks like we're set to roll by Louisville in the next few years. Raleigh will probably roll past us at some point if everything keeps going at the same pace. However, I wonder if Richmond's growth will increase as Washington slows a bit in the future? Any way you look at it 8.8% is not bad at all when it comes to growth. I wish Richmond would take on a bigger national profile. We lack the kind of attention that a place like Jacksonville got with the Superbowl. Richmond needs to find a way to get on the National radar.

Edited April 25, 2007 by skycity

[wrldcoupe4]

RIC getting new low-cost carrier: Skybus

For the price of a DVD, you could fly to Columbus, Ohio, starting next month....

Initially, Skybus is offering one morning flight a day to Columbus with no return flight until early the next morning. It said the bargain-basement fare is available on at least 10 of the plane's 150 seats. Beyond that, the airline expects the fare to be less than $200 round trip....

The airline is following the style of European budget airline Ryanair by charging $5 extra for each checked bag, in addition to charges for priority seating and refreshments. It will use Southwest Airlines' open-seating policy, unless passengers want to pay more....

[burt]

Skycity, it's only fair to point out that Richmond's Metropolitan Statistical area covers considerably more land that comparable cities. It goes from (and includes) Caroline and King William on the north to Sussex in the south, and Louisa in the west to New Kent in the east. That's a pretty vast area. And some of those counties have been added since the 2000 census, I believe.

Regarding Skybus to Columbus, I hope it will attract flyers from the cities Richmonders fled to for cheap air fares before Air Tran and Jet Blue came on the scene. In my mind, it seems a questionable destination airport, especially with difficult connections to further points and USAirways competition. The Skybus fleet will carry 50 more passengers than Jet Blue's Embraer planes.

It's about time for Chip Jones' report on April traffic at RIC. Are we still growing by double digits?

Final note: If Skybus succeeds, Greater Richmond would be smart to buy advertising touting the area on the planes fusilages. Every now and then I see a big white bus in the Port Authority area on 42nd Streett with "NYC - DC - Richmond" emblazoned on its side. Wonder if that's the Chinatown bus?

Edited April 25, 2007 by burt

[wrldcoupe4]

It's also only fair to point out that those outlying counties contribute little in population and business to the metro area. Some contribute less than 10,000 people.

Chip Jones won't report on April figures until April's over. I recently posted the following though:

ALSO, March was a great month for passenger counts, as RIC experienced a nearly 17% increase. 299,162 passengers went through the airport, compared with 255,885 last March. This is on top of the 14% and 16% growth in January and February respectively.

For the year, passenger counts are up 15.7%.

[MicoMiles]

The lone RIC Skybus schedule is the pits!!

The one daily inbound & outbound flight out of RIC is in the morning.

If you were returning to Richmond from any city Skybus city served, you would literally have to stay overnite in Columbus in order to catch the 6:30AM flight back to RIC.

Columbus - RIC : 6:30AM Departure (Inbound)

RIC - Columbus : 8:01AM Departure (Outbound)

No other scheduled Skybus flights.

IMO, this airline WILL NOT attract any passengers outside of Richmond. Not trying to be negative but the Skybus schedule is very inconvenient.......... unless you like sleeping in an airport to make your connecting flight.

[wrldcoupe4]

Skybus has ordered a substantial number of new planes from airbus... perhaps the number of flights will improve once they have more planes?

[MicoMiles]

Skybus may have some equipment on order but I will bet that before they take possesion, they will be looking very closely at their books, as all airlines do before deciding to order or take delivery. They will either take possesion of new aircraft or delay and even cancel if the stipuliation is in their contract.

With only 8 airplanes in their fleet, I find it hard to believe they will make revenue, especially with their flight schedules.

If you recall, Independence Air had both CRJ-200 and some Airbus A319 or 320's, a hub, established credibililty (flying under the United Express banner) and they still could not make a profit even with their equipment full of passengers.

The big question is whether Skybus will be able to fill their 156 seat aircraft in Richmond based on 1 inbound/outbound flight?

[burt]

Considering that flight time between Richmond and Columbus is about two hours,* Skybus could possibly be valuable to the business communities in each state capital if there were an evening return. Mico, I agree that a same day return at a reasonable hour is essential to capture business one-day trippers as well as those connecting from other flights.

There is a small airline, whose name escapes me, that offers very cheap seats from Roanoke to points in Florida. It generally serves smaller airports. Does anyone know if it is attracting enough flyers to stay in business?

*Columbus is on Central time.

I just noted from the web site that flights on weekends have been hiked from $20 to $50. Midweek availability remains at $10. Maybe the jump in weekend tickets is a sign that they are getting bookings.

Edited April 27, 2007 by burt

[Icetera]

Considering that flight time between Richmond and Columbus is about two hours,* Skybus could possibly be valuable to the business communities in each state capital if there were an evening return. Mico, I agree that a same day return at a reasonable hour is essential to capture business one-day trippers as well as those connecting from other flights.

There is a small airline, whose name escapes me, that offers very cheap seats from Roanoke to points in Florida. It generally serves smaller airports. Does anyone know if it is attracting enough flyers to stay in business?

*Columbus is on Central time.

I just noted from the web site that flights on weekends have been hiked from $20 to $50. Midweek availability remains at $10. Maybe the jump in weekend tickets is a sign that they are getting bookings.

Dayton, which is West of Columbus is still EST. I believe the timezone switch is on the Illinios/Indiana border.

Edited April 27, 2007 by Icetera

[MicoMiles]

Considering that flight time between Richmond and Columbus is about two hours,* Skybus could possibly be valuable to the business communities in each state capital if there were an evening return. Mico, I agree that a same day return at a reasonable hour is essential to capture business one-day trippers as well as those connecting from other flights.

There is a small airline, whose name escapes me, that offers very cheap seats from Roanoke to points in Florida. It generally serves smaller airports. Does anyone know if it is attracting enough flyers to stay in business?

*Columbus is on Central time.

I just noted from the web site that flights on weekends have been hiked from $20 to $50. Midweek availability remains at $10. Maybe the jump in weekend tickets is a sign that they are getting bookings.

Burt,

Columbus, OH (Ohio in general) is the Eastern Time Zone.

The airline you are referring to is Allegiant Air and they have been in business since 1997. They currently serve 60 cities. They too are being courted by airports around the country though Allegiant tend to serve small airports capable of handling their fleet of MD80 series.

[burt]

Columbus on Eastern time? Well, that's a big plus, then -- it means flight time to Columbus is about the same as RIC/JFK --a little over an hour.

Thanks, Mico, for the Allegiant info. Is the line doing decent business? Would Richmond be a logical market for it?

[Icetera]

Columbus on Eastern time? Well, that's a big plus, then -- it means flight time to Columbus is about the same as RIC/JFK --a little over an hour.

Thanks, Mico, for the Allegiant info. Is the line doing decent business? Would Richmond be a logical market for it?

Certainly beats the 45 min jump to Philly first.

[MicoMiles]

Columbus on Eastern time? Well, that's a big plus, then -- it means flight time to Columbus is about the same as RIC/JFK --a little over an hour.

Thanks, Mico, for the Allegiant info. Is the line doing decent business? Would Richmond be a logical market for it?

Burt,

The airline is doing fairly well from what I have heard and read. Not too bad for an airline that prefers smaller airports. By servicing smaller airports, Allegiant stays away from ground and air delays that plague larger airports. I could see Allegiant doing well in RIC!

From the grapevine: I have heard that Delta is returning all 757 service back to Norfolk. Some service 757 service has already been restored. It would be nice if Delta would do the same for Richmond..........

[burt]

Mico, are you saying Delta has pulled all four daily 757 flights (2 arrivals, 2 departures) from RIC? I saw an afternoon departure on April 2nd when I was returning to NYCity.

[MicoMiles]

Mico, are you saying Delta has pulled all four daily 757 flights (2 arrivals, 2 departures) from RIC? I saw an afternoon departure on April 2nd when I was returning to NYCity.

Burt,

The 2 DL757 flights remain in RIC.

I hope Richmond travelers support AirTran because, IMO, this is the only reason why Delta is using 757 service our of RIC. AirTran has moved into Delta's Atlanta N/S service "turf". Delta will use its muscle (aircraft & fares) to drive competiton to the ground. If AirTran leaves RIC due to low passenger loads, I can guarantee you that Delta will pull the 757 service out of RIC and bring back the MD80/737 in its replacement. Thats how it works in the airline industry.

For Norfolk, I heard that all flights to Atlanta will be transitioned to 757's in the coming months. In previous years, mostly all of Delta's ATL-ORF/ORF-ATL flights were on 757 aircrafts. Delta discontinued use of the 757 aircraft into Norfolk and other cities because the aircrafts were moved to SONG, Delta's version of a LCC. SONG only used the 757 aircraft. With SONG long gone, the aircrafts are now back under Delta livery and utilized in various mid-to-large sized cities.

[burt]

Mico, while AirTrans load factor in Richmond is slightly below the company's overall average, they are operating at 80% capacity in Richmiond and say they have no intention of leaving.

Aparently local travelers are loyal ones and appreciate frequent flyer miles offered by Delta.

If AirTran merges with Midwest Air, Richmond may get some routes west of the Mississippi.

I keep wondering why the USAir/America West merger, if it is final, has not resulted in trickle down business for RIC.