Richmond International Airport

[flack4ric]

1 hour ago, flaneur said:

Three points: [West Coast, Southwest, 70s hub]

Who wouldn't like to see West Coast service blossom? Over time, the region will grow into it or business clusters will develop to make it less risky for an airline. 

Southwest? Of course we'd like to see more.

The late 70s hub? While I've heard this referenced many times, I've yet to find anything - newspaper articles, minutes, third-party notes, etc. - that really illustrates the opportunity or issues. From hub development efforts elsewhere, it's easy to see that airlines were not hesitant to play communities off against each other to get best possible terms. No shocker there. Perhaps RIC took its best shot, but it wasn't good enough. If you have additional info to share, please point me in the right direction.

On 5/29/2019 at 7:38 AM, cbl1 said:

I tend to travel out early am and return late night and the Richmond airport is pretty empty.  However, last week I arrived at Richmond at 5pm and the airport was packed.   People in all the lounges (they were full) - busy corridors.  I was impressed. 

If you travel out early, like before 8AM, you'll rarely see the terminal empty. Lots of kick off flights each day.

In the evenings, lots of terminating flights in the 9:30PM-midnight range.

[Shakman]

To expand on your comment, I have flown out RIC in the early mornings.  It felt like I stepped into a major east coast airport.

[Seaboard Fellow]

On 6/13/2019 at 1:58 PM, flack4ric said:

The late 70s hub? While I've heard this referenced many times, I've yet to find anything - newspaper articles, minutes, third-party notes, etc. - that really illustrates the opportunity or issues. From hub development efforts elsewhere, it's easy to see that airlines were not hesitant to play communities off against each other to get best possible terms. No shocker there. Perhaps RIC took its best shot, but it wasn't good enough. If you have additional info to share, please point me in the right direction.

I had an uber driver reference the late 70s hub a few weeks ago on a ride from the airport back home. On the other hand, I spoke with some folks who have been in Richmond their entire life, no one seemed to know anything about it. This appears to be a hard story to pin down. 

[eandslee]

2 hours ago, Seaboard Fellow said:

I had an uber driver reference the late 70s hub a few weeks ago on a ride from the airport back home. On the other hand, I spoke with some folks who have been in Richmond their entire life, no one seemed to know anything about it. This appears to be a hard story to pin down. 

Yeah, I’ve read where people have referenced this many times (re: RIC lost to Charlotte for the AA hub), but I have never seen anything to corroborate the story.  I’ve even asked for references and they never provide it.  I believe this story is made up, but there might be some elements of truth to it.  It could be that Richmond was considered for the hub, but the news of it never hit the papers or other news outlets - as if it might have been a glancing thought, but it was never taken seriously. 

I’d love for RIC be considered for a hub and actually land one!  I think it’s in a great location geographically (easily accessible to the most populous parts of the state and right in the middle of the east coast).  Richmond is seeing more and more growth and with the growing population and more businesses moving in, it might be possible!  Plus, the airline me industry is in constant flux...anything can happen. 

Edited June 15, 2019 by eandslee

[wrldcoupe4]

https://www.richmond.com/business/local/richmond-international-airport-sets-another-record-in-may-for-monthly/article_4d212350-945d-5b99-a999-62041efe3f98.html

May was the busiest month ever, up 10% from a year ago.  

[wrldcoupe4]

New president and CEO for RIC with transformation experience in Houston. Maybe we can convert RIC into something more? Thoughts?

"His last job with the system was leading the conversion of Hobby Airport from a medium-hub domestic airport to a medium-hub international airport."

https://www.richmond.com/business/local/richmond-international-airport-names-new-president-and-ceo/article_05da1166-f24e-5fb8-bd56-40cd3ac54efe.html

[eandslee]

One can only hope!  He worked in the Houston airport system, but came from Jackson, Mississippi...not exactly a booming airport.  I’m cautiously optimistic that he will take RIC to the next level.  I really hope he does!!  I’d like to know what his vision is for RIC. The article only talks about him possibly improving the customer experience...maybe that includes more flights/increased options and an airport that far out-paces all other airports in Virginia outside of NOVA!  I’d like to see him be aggressive on growth and expanded service!  We’ll see what happens!

[wrldcoupe4]

https://www.richmond.com/business/local/richmond-international-airport-handles-record-number-of-passengers-in-fiscal/article_77350c4d-0681-5205-8050-4623a58c2fae.html

A record 4.267M  passengers in the fiscal year that ended June 30. 

Also - the airport along with the Chamber applied for federal grants to support efforts to secure direct nonstop flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Last time, this helped us secure direct flights to Denver.

 

 

 

Edited July 31, 2019 by wrldcoupe4

[eandslee]

3 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

https://www.richmond.com/business/local/richmond-international-airport-handles-record-number-of-passengers-in-fiscal/article_77350c4d-0681-5205-8050-4623a58c2fae.html

A record 4.267M  passengers in the fiscal year that ended June 30. 

Also - the airport along with the Chamber applied for federal grants to support efforts to secure direct nonstop flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Last time, this helped us secure direct flights to Denver.

 

 

 

The federal grant application is a step in the right direction!  Hard to believe that an airline won’t take a chance on Richmond with direct flight to the west coast without the guaranteed subsidy.  With as much growth the airport is seeing, it just boggles my mind!  Maybe one of the LCC will do it first before and grant comes in.  At least the airport is pushing for it.  Everyone always wants direct flights to the west - here’s hoping it happens!

if the growth trend continues, it may take another step up in August and again in November when the new routes begin.  4.2M is great news, let’s keep shooting for more!  The new Concourse A expansion should open additional opportunities as well!

[wrldcoupe4]

Makes me wonder if the grant effort is tied to rumored plans for west coast companies in Virginia. 

https://richmondbizsense.com/2018/10/03/netflix-richmond-streaming-giant-hunting-hub-virginia/

[eandslee]

37 minutes ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

Makes me wonder if the grant effort is tied to rumored plans for west coast companies in Virginia. 

https://richmondbizsense.com/2018/10/03/netflix-richmond-streaming-giant-hunting-hub-virginia/

I don’t even remember reading this article when it came out (I must have read it, but then forgot).  Good thinking to put these two together.  It does make you wonder, but also I think there is a lot of pent up demand for west coast flights anyway.  Thanks for reminding us of this possibility.   I wonder how the progress of this is even going. It’s been almost a year since the article came out - radio silence ever since. 

[eandslee]

Another record month for RIC!!  Almost hit 400K passengers!!

https://flyrichmond.com/passenger-traffic-sets-new-july-record-at-ric/

[benstyree]

 New update. We now have some structure in place. 

Edited September 5, 2019 by benstyree

[blake_p]

Here's a webcam for the terminal expansion: https://public.earthcam.net/WMSchlosser/richmond_airport_terminal_expansion/richmond_airport/panorama_-_regular

[eandslee]

3 hours ago, blake_p said:

Here's a webcam for the terminal expansion: https://public.earthcam.net/WMSchlosser/richmond_airport_terminal_expansion/richmond_airport/panorama_-_regular

Awesome find!!!  Thanks for posting. This is really great!

[wrldcoupe4]

Another all-time monthly record for passengers. This time for August. 

https://www.richmond.com/business/passenger-traffic-at-richmond-international-airport-in-august-sets-record/article_57fe256b-adbf-558a-9e9a-3bc519de8883.html

[eandslee]

The last steel beam as part of the new extension to Concourse A was installed today.  Now it’s all about finishing up the extension, which will provide 6 more needed gates (giving way to a total of 28 gates at RIC).  Hopefully, this will also lead to new service to new destinations!

[wrldcoupe4]

Surprised you guys didn’t post it, but airport traffic in September was up 8% and up about the same for the year. The concourse expansion has topped out and 3 new daily flights to JFK on American. All in the RTD. 

[eandslee]

A new Florida destination for RIC!!  This was unexpected!  Allegiant Air.

https://www.richmond.com/business/allegiant-air-is-adding-another-florida-market-from-richmond-starting/article_baf4e059-db31-591a-aa89-117094405bad.html

[eandslee]

I’m actually hoping that this latest announcement is the first of many more announcements of expanded service from Richmond starting next Spring.  Remember, that is when the new expanded Concourse A is supposed to be completed that will expand gate availability by 6 more gates!  That’s a lot of additional capacity!  It might be an interesting next few months for the airport!  Well, I hope it is. 

[flack4ric]

18 hours ago, Hike said:

Glad the airport continues to grow, expand, hope to get more western routes soon too would be good, it seems like there are a lot of options to FL.

This was a comment in the opinion piece in Style Weekly out last week written by Mayor Stoney.  The comment had me going and then the airport comment.

"...IMO RVA is on the crusp of becoming a Charlotte or like City. The next step would be to do something about the Airport, that is a hinderance to more people coming to RVA."

Just to be clear, the Airport comment is from an anonymous reader using the handle SOUTHERNGENT, not Richmond's mayor. Aside from the fact this is off topic in the Style Weekly opinion section (and received LOTS of down votes), I welcome more feedback from SOUTHERNGENT. What he posted, unfortunately, is like getting a two-star rating and no comments. How do you address/fix that?

[RiverYuppy]

More good news about RIC. October was the second-busiest month on record!

Edited November 26, 2019 by RiverYuppy

[eandslee]

Happy New Year everyone!  Here’s to a new year of economic growth in Richmond!

Speaking of which, I just checked the stats for the airport in November (they were just published) and November 2019 saw 373,149 passengers compared to 370,289 I’m November 2018.  While that is only a 0.77% increase, it is growth.  With very few new routes and additional seats being offered in 2019 I saw this coming. However, I’ve been hearing “quiet news” that expanded service is coming this year for at least one airline, so we might expect to see the passenger counts continue to steadily increase.  Also, it looks like the airport will end up with roughly 4.3 million passengers for the calendar year 2019!  Here’s to a new year with a new Concourse A extension, expanded service, more passengers...a new airline (not a rumor or confirmed - just a wish of mine)!!

Statistic details:

https://t4s7f2q2.stackpathcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/RIC-NOV19-Activity-Report.pdf

Edited January 1, 2020 by eandslee

[wrldcoupe4]

When you say expanded service, do you think it means destination(s)?

[eandslee]

5 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

When you say expanded service, do you think it means destination(s)?

My assumption is that it means new destinations.  I’d be very surprised if it meant more flights to this airline’s current destinations as those destinations are seemingly sufficiently served now.