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Richmond International Airport


eandslee

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Eric, what did you think of the discussion today about a possible International flight during the 2007 festivities from an airport in Kent south of London to either ORF or RIC? Or have we already talked about that? I'm getting rattled with Jet Blue everywhere I look - even in the dining out scene! :rofl:

You and I haven't talked about it yet, but I think it would be a good idea if England is willing to organize it and make sure there is good ridership. I'm not sure which airport they will see as being the best airport, but of course, I'm biased and could argue that Richmond would be the best place for the charter flights, but I'm sure we could all argue both ways. I would love to see Richmond land the international flights mostly because I don't believe that Richmond will be the center of the 2007 celebration. I think that the center will be literally Jamestown. Richmond could get some benefits because it is close, but in order for Virginia as a whole to benefit it would be nice for the commission to force tourists westward to Richmond (which is more centrally located in Virginia and easily accessible to all of Virginia tourist destinations) forcing tourists to fly into Richmond in order to start their tourism journey there and then have them move eastward to the Jamestown area. Whether they fly into Norfolk or Richmond, the bottom line is that it will be a temporary thing. Either airport, however, could support the flights due to the size of the airports and the length of the runways. This is really going to be a tough decision to make, but perhaps Richmond has more going for it because of the political influence there and if I had to make a prediction (and if I was a betting man), I'd say that Richmond will probably end up with the international flights mostly for the last reason I mentioned: political power.

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Disagree, Eric. Richmond could (and should) get the flights, but not primarily from a political view, tho it unquestionably helps. Logisticaly, NN/W'burg is incapable of handling the big jets. The traffic and tunnel do not work in favor of ORF.

Edited by burt
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Had a nice correspondence with Chip Jones at RTD today. I told him about New York Airport Service bus schedules from JFK to midtown. It takes an hour (depending on traffic) from JFK JetBlue Terminal to Grand Central, and they run every 20 minutes. Cost is $15 one way, $27, roundtrip.

This will be the same when ORF gets service, which I sincerely hope is soon.

So there, Rus! :P

Edited by burt
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Had a nice correspondence with Chip Jones at RTD today. I told him about New York Airport Service bus schedules from JFK to midtown. It takes an hour (depending on traffic) from JFK JetBlue Terminal to Grand Central. Cost is $15 one way, $27, roundtrip.

This will be the same when ORF gets service, which I sincerely hope is soon.

So there, Rus! :P

Dude I don't care that Richmond gets good things. I just am very pro Norfolk and when Richmond gets support or funding due to it being the capital i have a gripe with that. I am glad that Richmond is getting Jet blue. But I do not think the tunnel will have a factor on why ORF can't get the international fligts. Actually Norfolk was talking about trying to get permanent international flights anyways. The tunnel should not be a factor due to I travel it every week to work and have no problems or delays. I feel it should be in ORF due to most of Jamestown development is due to the Hampton Roads area. The history of landings in this area, Vabeach and Hampton included should be enough reason for it be in ORF. They could see the route that the settlers took to get to Jamestown. You can't do that from Richmond. I'm sorry if they fell left out but it should be in ORF.

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Dude I don't care that Richmond gets good things. I just am very pro Norfolk and when Richmond gets support or funding due to it being the capital i have a gripe with that. I am glad that Richmond is getting Jet blue. But I do not think the tunnel will have a factor on why ORF can't get the international fligts. Actually Norfolk was talking about trying to get permanent international flights anyways. The tunnel should not be a factor due to I travel it every week to work and have no problems or delays. I feel it should be in ORF due to most of Jamestown development is due to the Hampton Roads area. The history of landings in this area, Vabeach and Hampton included should be enough reason for it be in ORF. They could see the route that the settlers took to get to Jamestown. You can't do that from Richmond. I'm sorry if they fell left out but it should be in ORF.

The route the settlers took was by water. Have you ever been to The Citie of Henricus (accessable, also, by water) which was the second oldest colony? Check it out some time.

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from the TD editorial:

"The decisions by discount carriers AirTran and JetBlue to serve Richmond International Airport did not occur -- abracadabra -- by magic. Airlines take many factors into account when developing their networks. The hard work of RIC officials contributed to the calls. RIC's leadership pilots the airport like an ace."

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from the TD editorial:

"The decisions by discount carriers AirTran and JetBlue to serve Richmond International Airport did not occur -- abracadabra -- by magic. Airlines take many factors into account when developing their networks. The hard work of RIC officials contributed to the calls. RIC's leadership pilots the airport like an ace."

You notice that the Republican RTD did not credit Governor Warner with so much as a tip of the hat for the airport development! The City Desk may have new more open-minded leadership, but the editorial board is still mired in its reactionary mode.

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I think we have to take any editorial with a grain of salt....

but I do have some good news! Jet Blue plans to add 50 jobs at RIC:

JetBlue expects to hire 50 workers

Richmond Times-Dispatch

Oct 19, 2005

JetBlue Airways Corp. will hire up to 50 customer service employees before it starts operating at Richmond International Airport in March, an airline official said this week.

JetBlue spokesman Bryan Baldwin said in a e-mail that the recruiting process probably won't start until January, with hiring by early March. Last week, JetBlue announced it would start nonstop service to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport from Richmond on March 31, as well as nonstop service to Boston starting April 6........

More Jobs

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Looks like JetBlue netted $2.7 million this 3rd quarter. Though this was a loss compared to last year, it still be expections. This is good news...sort of...and could possible be a reason for its decision to land in Richmond. High fuel costs have really hurt airlines in America and JetBlue is not immune. For those of you who care about the business end of this news, here's a link:

JetBlue is making it work

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Eric, I don't like sounding greedy, but what's the situation with Southwest. Are they still considering RIC?

I see that further study has again delayed a second parallel runway at ORF. That's a pisser! It should have been approved last year!

I'm not quite sure what's up with Southwest Airlines. Unfortunately, I don't have access to "inside" information as to what's next on Southwest's horizon. In fact, I don't think that most industry analysts know what will happen. The airline industry is so volitile that it is hard to predict such things. One can only hope things will work out. Enlisting the help of lobbyists is almost the most effective way to get Southwest here. If Warner was a personal friend of Gary Kelly (Southwest's CEO), I'd bet Southwest Airlines would be announcing new service to and from Richmond too! :thumbsup:

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I'm also not sure why the study of a second runway in Norfolk was denied, but in the back of my mind, I can't help but to think of the idea that was thrown around a number of years ago that state officials wanted to place a large airport in between Richmond and Norfolk that would serve both areas. I don't know what happened to that idea (I wasn't, and am still not, in favor of such a concept), but I hope the denial of the runway study was not because that new airport concept is beginning to surface again...who knows.... :unsure:

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I'm also not sure why the study of a second runway in Norfolk was denied, but in the back of my mind, I can't help but to think of the idea that was thrown around a number of years ago that state officials wanted to place a large airport in between Richmond and Norfolk that would serve both areas. I don't know what happened to that idea (I wasn't, and am still not, in favor of such a concept), but I hope the denial of the runway study was not because that new airport concept is beginning to surface again...who knows.... :unsure:

I doubt that with all the money that is being put in RIC, ORF and NN and Willamsburg Int. Maybe they want to see enough growth for it to be feasible or it might be cause of the bankruptcies that are going on and the rising fuel costs. The feds might think that there will be a drop in flights or passengers

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I doubt that with all the money that is being put in RIC, ORF and NN and Willamsburg Int. Maybe they want to see enough growth for it to be feasible or it might be cause of the bankruptcies that are going on and the rising fuel costs. The feds might think that there will be a drop in flights or passengers

That could also be the reason, rus...you're absolutely right. It really could be anything, though. Like I said before, the airline industry and services that are associated with it (to include airports) is continually operating on shaky ground and spending millions now for something that might not be needed is really risky...money that could be used elsewhere for more acute problems/needed projects facing the airport in Norfolk.

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In a way it would be a good thing if it was some where in between like Willamsburg it would be a good thing for both metros. They could have a rail system for both and eventually we might end up like a Baltimore and DC, One metro.

Actually, they were planning for it to be located in either Sussex or Surry County (if memory serves me right)...Basically, in the middle of nowhere! I don't think that would have been such a good place.

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Actually, they were planning for it to be located in either Sussex or Surry County (if memory serves me right)...Basically, in the middle of nowhere! I don't think that would have been such a good place.

For a airport I think it would cause its across the James River from Willamsburg and the train can go directly to Norfolk and a train could go up to Richmond, Petersburg and Chesterfield.

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Yeah... glad they didn't go forward with that! I think HR and Richmond are both large enough to support their own airports.

Well we could have one big airport that would have most of the airlines we desire. More flights and it would look at both metros and could be a serious hub and it would spur development between the two causing both areas to become one metro. This would be a good thing in a way.

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Well we could have one big airport that would have most of the airlines we desire. More flights and it would look at both metros and could be a serious hub and it would spur development between the two causing both areas to become one metro. This would be a good thing in a way.

You're right, Rus and that's why I think that concept was floating around. I guess I wouldn't mind it so much if it wasn't so far from both metros...relatively speaking to how far one needs to travel now to get to their local airport. It would be different that's for sure, but with a good infrastructure plan (i.e. rail transportation from both cities directly to the airport, good roads, etc.), I could see it working out quite nicely. I don't know what happened to this idea, but I'll do some researching to see if I can pull up something concrete on the idea.

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OK, I found something on this...I knew I wasn't just dreaming this thing up. Anyway, it's called the Eastern Virginia Airport System Study. I found a PDF file that was like 407 pages long (I'm not reading all of that), but you might find some good information about all this in there somewhere. Actually, it looks like the airport would be located closer to the Hampton Roads area than to the Richmond area, but nevertheless I think it is still being studied and could occur if the financing is in place. Take note: IF this happens, it probably would not occur until at least 2025-2030....I'll be almost dead then. Anyhow, here's the link. Scroll to the very bottom of the page and you'll see a map of Eastern Virginia with the study area in yellow. Hope this is a wealth of information for you. Enjoy!

Eastern Virginia Airport System Study

Edited by eandslee
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I'm not quite sure what's up with Southwest Airlines. Unfortunately, I don't have access to "inside" information as to what's next on Southwest's horizon. In fact, I don't think that most industry analysts know what will happen. The airline industry is so volitile that it is hard to predict such things. One can only hope things will work out. Enlisting the help of lobbyists is almost the most effective way to get Southwest here. If Warner was a personal friend of Gary Kelly (Southwest's CEO), I'd bet Southwest Airlines would be announcing new service to and from Richmond too! :thumbsup:

Mr. Mathison, the Airport director, was very chummy with a top Southwest executive and, until Southwest's fortunes took a slight tailspin a couple of years ago, Richmond's prospects looked very good. I have a notion that Southwest service is still on Richmond's horizon.

Here's hoping that the America West/USAir merger will open up non-stop flights from RIC to western markets. The sparkling new terminal is bound to attract business IMHO.

Question - Why is RIC sometimes referred to as RIA?

I noticed on my last visit that directional signs now read Richmond International Airport and not just RIC.

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Re: joint airport for HR/Richmond. Not too many years ago there was someone with decision-making authority who vetoed the construction of a runway at RIC long enough to handle the largest planes in the skies. It would have required some adjustments along the 895 (Pocahontas Pkwy) corridor but oddly enough, not CSX tracks. This person in authority had the power to sidetrack this plan, and I believe his reasoning was that a SuperPort would or could be constructed north of Williamsburg.

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