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Richmond International Airport


eandslee

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Not so much RIC news, but if you haven't heard already, Frontier Airlines will now fly out of Norfolk with nonstop, TWICE WEEKLY service (Thursdays and Sundays) to Denver and Orlando.  This is a second airline from Norfolk that will be offering service to Denver starting this summer.  United will begin nonstop service to Denver from Norfolk (I believe) starting in June.  Frontier will begin service in August.  While RIC only has one airline with direct, nonstop service to Denver (United Airlines), at least they will serve RIC with TWICE DAILY service to and from Denver.  I see a competition war going on between United and Frontier at Norfolk.  Would be nice to have another airline compete with United at RIC (I was hoping that Frontier would start flying from RIC soon), but that won't happen now.  It will have to be another airline if it happens at all.  I still hold out hope that RIC will land nonstop service to Las Vegas soon and it is possible through Spirit Airlines or even Allegiant Airlines (both have bases in Las Vegas).  Looks like the summer airline competition is heating up!

 

https://pilotonline.com/news/local/transportation/article_856e1dc6-52c3-11e8-8a75-b3e15f7c0404.html

Edited by eandslee
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7 minutes ago, cwd221 said:

Southwest needs to hop on that RIC to Denver route. I know Southwest has a fairly large presence in that airport. 

Agreed!!  I would love for that to happen! 

on a side note, I'm still frustrated by the continual competition between Norfolk and Richmond airports.  I'm thinking one has to come out on top as the next premier airport.  Even if that happens, they will both exist it's just that one should clearly be the front runner (my opinion).  Hard to do that when one airport continually "one-ups" the other every time new service starts (they always seem to be neck and neck).  Something has to give at some point.  While RIC is technically still busier than Norfolk, it isn't outpacing Norfolk by much.  Just a dynamic scenario.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the airlines respond to Frontier's move into Virginia.  Will Southwest make a bold move, will Spirit, will Allegiant?  Things are building up!

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20 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Agreed!!  I would love for that to happen! 

on a side note, I'm still frustrated by the continual competition between Norfolk and Richmond airports.  I'm thinking one has to come out on top as the next premier airport.  Even if that happens, they will both exist it's just that one should clearly be the front runner (my opinion).  Hard to do that when one airport continually "one-ups" the other every time new service starts (they always seem to be neck and neck).  Something has to give at some point.  While RIC is technically still busier than Norfolk, it isn't outpacing Norfolk by much.  Just a dynamic scenario.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the airlines respond to Frontier's move into Virginia.  Will Southwest make a bold move, will Spirit, will Allegiant?  Things are building up!

I wouldn't worry too much about the competition between the two. While Norfolk has a larger pool of customers to pull from, it is also competing with the Newport News airport, RIC is the only game in the whole RVA metro. Another thing to keep in mind is the Norfolk airport has a capacity limitation that we don't have geographically. It has virtually no room to expand, it's pretty well locked in to its current size by water and the interstate, while our airport is expanding it's terminal (terminal A) and has room geographically to get bigger. So, while it may be close now, the next 10 years or so will probably see Norfolk's constraints start to take a toll on business. 

If I were Hampton Roads, I would put a regional effort into the Newport News Airport, it has the room to grow, but regional cooperation in Hampton Roads is contentious. 

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28 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Agreed!!  I would love for that to happen! 

on a side note, I'm still frustrated by the continual competition between Norfolk and Richmond airports.  I'm thinking one has to come out on top as the next premier airport.  Even if that happens, they will both exist it's just that one should clearly be the front runner (my opinion).  Hard to do that when one airport continually "one-ups" the other every time new service starts (they always seem to be neck and neck).  Something has to give at some point.  While RIC is technically still busier than Norfolk, it isn't outpacing Norfolk by much.  Just a dynamic scenario.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the airlines respond to Frontier's move into Virginia.  Will Southwest make a bold move, will Spirit, will Allegiant?  Things are building up!

Out of the blue, Alaska Airlines comes in and surprises everybody! 

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2 hours ago, drayrichmond said:

I wouldn't worry too much about the competition between the two. While Norfolk has a larger pool of customers to pull from, it is also competing with the Newport News airport, RIC is the only game in the whole RVA metro. Another thing to keep in mind is the Norfolk airport has a capacity limitation that we don't have geographically. It has virtually no room to expand, it's pretty well locked in to its current size by water and the interstate, while our airport is expanding it's terminal (terminal A) and has room geographically to get bigger. So, while it may be close now, the next 10 years or so will probably see Norfolk's constraints start to take a toll on business. 

If I were Hampton Roads, I would put a regional effort into the Newport News Airport, it has the room to grow, but regional cooperation in Hampton Roads is contentious. 

All very good points!  

2 hours ago, cwd221 said:

Out of the blue, Alaska Airlines comes in and surprises everybody! 

I like where you're going with this! :w00t:

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On 5/9/2018 at 8:24 AM, drayrichmond said:

If I were Hampton Roads, I would put a regional effort into the Newport News Airport, it has the room to grow, but regional cooperation in Hampton Roads is contentious. 

The reason this would never happen is because of the HRBT it is always a hassel to get across even without the extra traffic that would come from making the Newport News airport the go to for HR. 

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Spirit Airlines just made an announcement that they will be adding Internet service to every flight by next summer.  Average cost to surf the web on the Internet while flying is $6.50 (cost will depend on how long the flight is).  Just thought I'd spread the word.  The airline is very excited about this because now it might be able to tap into the business flyer market, something they had trouble doing before without any on flight amenities.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Discovered this tonight...RIC had a Wow flight tonight.  Charter or new airline?  Perhaps was a diversion due to weather.  If so, I hope they liked their stay and want to permanently originate flights from RIC!

28524386048_4728d6689c_b.jpg

 

Edited by eandslee
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It appears that April 2018 was a record-setting April by over 40K passengers!  The next best April was in 2015.  All of this is very good news for the airport!

As predicted, the news is a little late:

http://www.richmond.com/z-no-digital/richmond-airport-has-record-setting-april-with-more-than-passengers/article_06152a1e-4cd0-594f-997c-95e550c0b089.html

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Just signed up for Chargepoint and was very surprised to see that there is no electric vehicle charging offered at RIC.   This is in stark contrast to IAD and DCA, which both offer multiple charging stations (DCA is free, don’t know about IAD).

 

 

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21 minutes ago, jbjust said:

Just signed up for Chargepoint and was very surprised to see that there is no electric vehicle charging offered at RIC.   This is in stark contrast to IAD and DCA, which both offer multiple charging stations (DCA is free, don’t know about IAD).

 

 

That surprises me too!  Hmmm....  Well, is it a deal-breaker for you?

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41 minutes ago, jbjust said:

Just signed up for Chargepoint and was very surprised to see that there is no electric vehicle charging offered at RIC.   This is in stark contrast to IAD and DCA, which both offer multiple charging stations (DCA is free, don’t know about IAD).

 

 

I think we might see some soon though, with the new Tesla dealership moving in on Broad, I've started seeing charging stations pop up around town, even at the White Oak Village shopping center off Laburnum on the east end. That being said, I don't think it's a stretch to say we'll be getting some soon at RIC.

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6 minutes ago, jbjust said:

It makes me less likely to pay to park rather than take an Uber. 

I hear ya on that.  There are a couple things you can do:

1) One of our own (flack4ric) is actually Mr. Troy Bell, Director of Marketing & Air Service Development.  I'd contact him and ask him when Chargepoint might be installed at RIC (not sure if the airport decides where Chargepoints are installed or not).  He is also available via Facebook and runs the Richmond International Airport Facebook page.  He usually answers that pretty quickly when you private message him.  Nice guy though! ;)

2) Contact Chargepoint and request they install stations at the airport.  I'm sure if they have people advocating that they be installed there then they are more likely to make the move to do just that. :thumbsup:

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Let the "games" begin!  I just learned that Frontier Airlines will be offering non-stop flights from Norfolk to Las Vegas starting this August!  Now, knowing the history and competition between ORF and RIC airports, there will be a tit-for-tat style response by an airline at RIC.  I can almost guarantee you that Spirit or Allegiant Airlines will offer non-stop flights from RIC soon (just not announced yet) in response to Frontier's announcement.  So, I'll be on the lookout.  Also, congratulations to Norfolk for being the first airport between the two to have an airline make the first move - that's huge!  Frontier is very aggressive and this announcement proves it.  Let's see which of the two ULCC (Ultra Low Cost Carriers) at RIC matches Frontier.  Here's the official announcement about Norfolk's direct flight:

https://pilotonline.com/news/local/transportation/article_5eab3684-690b-11e8-ab02-77533c2dc8a1.html

 

Edited by eandslee
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  • 2 weeks later...
19 minutes ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

The article is missing. Did it reference the rumors?

That’s weird that the article is missing...it WAS there, I swear!  

No reference of rumors in the article.  I get my rumors from other sources.  Count that part as exclusive and part of the privilege of being a member of this forum!  :thumbsup:

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