Richmond International Airport

[eandslee]

Good airport news:

 

August passenger traffic at RIC increased 4.2 percent from last year representing the second-best month and second-best August on record at RIC (337,518 passengers in August 2017 vs. 324,011 passengers in August 2016). For the calendar year to date, RIC passenger traffic has increased 2.5 percent.

 

In addition, cargo activity increased 0.5 percent to 11.8 million pounds versus August 2016 and aircraft operations increased 3.0 percent from last year. 

 

Love to see the aiport getting busier...even if just a little each month!

[eandslee]

Since Facebook will have a data center here, I wonder if that is enough to warrant the need for direct flights from RIC to California where Facebook is based?  Not sure how often (or if) Facebook Execs or others employees will need to go back and forth from California to Richmond. 

[tparkerzut]

On 10/4/2017 at 6:52 PM, eandslee said:

Since Facebook will have a data center here, I wonder if that is enough to warrant the need for direct flights from RIC to California where Facebook is based?  Not sure how often (or if) Facebook Execs or others employees will need to go back and forth from California to Richmond. 

Would be nice, but doubt it. Especially for a facility of only 100 people. I'm sure during construction they will be out here, but this facility if ran correctly should almost feel like it doesn't exist to them.

[georgeglass]

On 10/4/2017 at 6:52 PM, eandslee said:

Since Facebook will have a data center here, I wonder if that is enough to warrant the need for direct flights from RIC to California where Facebook is based?  Not sure how often (or if) Facebook Execs or others employees will need to go back and forth from California to Richmond. 

I actually flew back to RIC on the red eye from San Diego on Sunday. We connected in Dulles and to my surprise, there were about 5 of us from the San Diego flight continuing on to RIC. 

[jbjust]

56 minutes ago, georgeglass said:

I actually flew back to RIC on the red eye from San Diego on Sunday. We connected in Dulles and to my surprise, there were about 5 of us from the San Diego flight continuing on to RIC. 

RIC doesn't have a proper red-eye.  I call that flight the "pink eye".

[georgeglass]

Well my eyes were pretty red. I wasn't implying that RIC had the red eye...just that I had taken it from San Diego. We left at 10:30pm and landed at Dulles around 6am, left Dulles for RIC at around 8am.

[eandslee]

2 hours ago, georgeglass said:

I actually flew back to RIC on the red eye from San Diego on Sunday. We connected in Dulles and to my surprise, there were about 5 of us from the San Diego flight continuing on to RIC. 

Just 5 of you?  That's not too bad I suppose. Wish there was as enough demand to actually have a daily flight to there from RIC. 

[blopp1234]

The 6-8 gate expansion of concourse A that has been proposed for awhile looks like it is finally going to happen. YAY!!!

http://www.richmond.com/business/local/expansion-at-richmond-international-s-concourse-a-on-the-horizon/article_76afb433-a396-5ef0-abe2-a7c114f5d5f7.html

[Wahoo 07]

25 minutes ago, blopp1234 said:

The 6-8 gate expansion of concourse A that has been proposed for awhile looks like it is finally going to happen. YAY!!!

http://www.richmond.com/business/local/expansion-at-richmond-international-s-concourse-a-on-the-horizon/article_76afb433-a396-5ef0-abe2-a7c114f5d5f7.html

That is great news.  Really excited to see what new flights this brings to RVA!

[eandslee]

51 minutes ago, Wahoo 07 said:

That is great news.  Really excited to see what new flights this brings to RVA!

It will definitely pave the way for expanded service!  I doubt anything is solid in the works right now to fill the added space, but I'm sure they've been given hints, plus it appears that all the gates are full every night where airlines park planes to ready them for the next morning's flights.  I've been looking forward to this expansion since the late 90s/early 2000s when the B Concourse was expanded.  I've also been keeping track of the passenger numbers for RIC and they are just about back up to the all-time high of 3.6M back in 2007.  I think we could beat that number this year...especially if we can get some more expanded service or add a new airline (I'm looking at you Frontier and Alaska Airlines).  The A concourse expansion can only help. Love this news!

Incidentally, I fly out of RIC tomorrow morning, so I'm going to do my part to improve passenger numbers!

[Wahoo 07]

Having the A concourse mirror the B concourse will be huge.  It also is another step towards the construction of the planned C concourse.

[eandslee]

31 minutes ago, Wahoo 07 said:

It also is another step towards the construction of the planned C concourse.

Love where you're going with that!

[drayrichmond]

Airport expansion! This is great news, nothing says confidence in the regions economy like a growing airport! Maybe some of the new space at the airport could be used to handle new flights to Seattle

[eandslee]

So I flew into RIC last night from Orlando and as we approached the airport we flew from the west, then to the north, and then east of downtown to the airport. The view of the city from those perspectives were awesome.  In the dark, downtown looks good but no prominent tower that stands out (of course).  Flying in and out of RIC got me interested in checking the Wikipedia site online to see if there was anything interesting of note. (Sometimes things pop up every once in a while). Well, I wasn't disappointed as I found the following statement referencing the pending expansion of Concourse A:

"The Airport will begin the expansion in the spring of 2018. The airport is also promising new routes to cities like Los Angles, Austin, and possibly even London. While no routes have been confirmed Airlines are showing interest"

I don't know who actually wrote this and don't know if they have any inside information the general public does not, but this statement got me very excited...especially the possible interest in a route to and from London.  Perhaps there is interest and the airport is setting itself up for what may become with the expanded concourse, but dang that would be awesome if true!  I'll continue to do some research, but I hope the LA and London routes come to fruition!

[flack4ric]

19 hours ago, eandslee said:

"The Airport will begin the expansion in the spring of 2018. The airport is also promising new routes to cities like Los Angles, Austin, and possibly even London. While no routes have been confirmed Airlines are showing interest"

For the record, the Airport neither operates aircraft nor promises new routes. This Wiki statement is worth what you paid for it.

[eandslee]

1 hour ago, flack4ric said:

For the record, the Airport neither operates aircraft nor promises new routes. This Wiki statement is worth what you paid for it.

That's what I thought.  I just didn't know if the person who updated this had some inside information or what, but this was the first time I had ever heard of such. Thanks for setting the record straight, Flack!

[benstyree]

Could this finally be Frontier with some more routes to the west (like....Seattle )??? 

http://www.nbc12.com/story/36833163/ric-to-announce-new-airline-on-tuesday

Edited November 13, 2017 by benstyree

[eandslee]

Hell yeah!!!  It might be Frontier...Lord knows I’ve been hounding them for months to come fly out of RIC!  Then again, could it be Norwegian with flights to Europe!?  Whatever airline it is, I certainly hope they offer direct flights to points west and/or international destinations!  Can’t wait to find out!

[wrldcoupe4]

My gut is saying it will be one of those seasonal airlines with direct flights to somewhere warm during the winter months, but I’m hoping for something bigger!

[eandslee]

11 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

My gut is saying it will be one of those seasonal airlines with direct flights to somewhere warm during the winter months, but I’m hoping for something bigger!

Well, I haven’t see much fanfare with regard to this announcement, just a small tip off on NBC12, who appears to be the only ones reporting anything on the subject.  With that said your gut may be correct unless airport officials and the Internet at large has been very tight-lipped about it.  Perhaps I should lower my expectations.  The last airline to announce service at RIC was OneJet who operates very small planes...not going to put a dent in  total passengers served with that kind of service (though I’m glad it exists).   I had read somewhere a few weeks ago that Frontier won’t be making anymore route announcements until next summer, but I’m not sure how good the source was.  There are only a few mainstream airlines it could be...Frontier, Alaska Airlines, Spirit, Virgin America...and then we’d be looking at some of the up and coming international airlines...Air Canada (more legacy than up and coming), Norwegian Air...or some “po-dunk” airline no one has ever heard of trying to get its foot in the door (I have no names to suggest here because, who knows).  That is my assessment.  Anyway, I hope the announcement is a good one. 

[Wahoo 07]

I really hope that this is either a west coast or Europe flight.  New destinations are always good and I won't complain about a new carrier serving RIC, but it isn't as exciting as opening up a new region or country.

[cwd221]

Is there any mention when the announcement will be made?

[eandslee]

52 minutes ago, cwd221 said:

Is there any mention when the announcement will be made?

10:00 this morning...actually right now!  Streaming live on NBC12.com.

[cwd221]

Look for the yellow Spirit planes to be flying in and out of a city near you.

[eandslee]

It's Spirit Airlines coming with service starting in March 2018.  Serving Fort Lauderdale, FL and Orlando, FL.

No west coast destination that I heard in the 30 seconds of the broadcast I could download.