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Richmond International Airport


eandslee

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 8/7/2020 at 1:48 PM, eandslee said:

...but unfortunately, there is not a photo that includes the whole airport (terminal & concourses - need one of those)! 

Here's a Google-y thing. But, unfortunately, it doesn't show the extension. Looks like it will just be basically a mirror image of the other side to make it symmetrical.

Screenshot_20200825-104159_Maps.jpg

Edited by Henrico Weather
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27 minutes ago, Henrico Weather said:

Here's a Google-y thing. But, unfortunately, it doesn't show the extension. Looks like it will just be basically a mirror image of the other side to make it symmetrical.

Screenshot_20200825-104159_Maps.jpg

Thanks for the attempt. I did do a Google maps view of it about a week ago on my laptop and it showed the same thing, but then when I zoomed in a bit further, it showed an image of the start of construction (you could see the outline of the new extension).  I guess that’s as close as we’ll get until someone snaps a photo in an airplane and makes the image public online. I’m actually trying to get a good image of the entire airport (mostly the terminal and concourses)  to submit for the Flightradar24  app. Currently, there is no image representing the airport and I didn’t want to submit one until construction was complete...or near complete (which it is now).  If you happen to come across one, please let me know!

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So this is all hypothetical - meaning, had COVID not happened...

Given the current design of the RIC terminal - if Richmond were to steal a hub away from somewhere or land a secondary-hub of some kind... how does the terminal expand? Obviously the way its designed, it can handle capacity probably quite a bit higher than what it was doing pre-COVID. But were things "normal" again, and passenger traffic kept growing so dramatically and the terminal eventually reached capacity ... how/where does it expand - or would some kind of expansion require either a separate, second terminal - or a replacement of what's there now?

Just looking for design opinions...

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6 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

So this is all hypothetical - meaning, had COVID not happened...

Given the current design of the RIC terminal - if Richmond were to steal a hub away from somewhere or land a secondary-hub of some kind... how does the terminal expand? Obviously the way its designed, it can handle capacity probably quite a bit higher than what it was doing pre-COVID. But were things "normal" again, and passenger traffic kept growing so dramatically and the terminal eventually reached capacity ... how/where does it expand - or would some kind of expansion require either a separate, second terminal - or a replacement of what's there now?

Just looking for design opinions...

Well, I can think of some options based on my own opinions, but the airport had a study done and in the master plan it shows that the current concourses can actually be extended even further and then there is a plan for another concourse (a Concourse C?) extending to the right (south) of the main terminal toward the current cargo area of the airport.  You can see what I mean here if you click the link.  Specifically, look at items 16, 17, and 18.  These are the planned expansion areas for more gates.  Just bring on the hub - we've got this! ;) 

https://flyrichmond.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ric_alpmap.pdf

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3 hours ago, eandslee said:

Well, I can think of some options based on my own opinions, but the airport had a study done and in the master plan it shows that the current concourses can actually be extended even further and then there is a plan for another concourse (a Concourse C?) extending to the right (south) of the main terminal toward the current cargo area of the airport.  You can see what I mean here if you click the link.  Specifically, look at items 16, 17, and 18.  These are the planned expansion areas for more gates.  Just bring on the hub - we've got this! ;) 

https://flyrichmond.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ric_alpmap.pdf

This looks really good! And it's fairly recent, too - just two years old. Minus COVID, I wonder how much more growth it would take to max the current capacity? Obviously as hub would be needed to really drive the envisioned expansion, but it looks good. Wow - were that to come to pass, RIC would have a "Terminal A" and "Terminal B" (or "Terminal 1" and "Terminal 2") ... Now, were it to come to pass and then max out capacity again, could everything on the far north end of the terminal be relocated to add a matching "Terminal C" -- or would there just be extensions to the southern wing?

Obviously, we're a world away from this right now - but especially in the midst of the pandemic, it IS fun to dream a little!

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40 minutes ago, DowntownCoruscant said:

I’m certainly no aviation expert (although I do listen to the Plane Crash Podcast; highly recommended), but I can’t see going much farther toward the north. 

Seems as though access to the planned future terminal 18 would be below the planned future garage 21?

Wow!  A Plane Crash Podcast...interesting.

Looks like there is possibly a walkway or some sort of connector corridor from the main terminal to the future terminal and concourse (#18).  That could easily be included as part of the parking garage (#21) or even added before the parking garage is built and the parking garage is eventually built on top (or around) the walkway/connector corridor.  That's the way it looks to me.

My dream would be to have a subway train running from underneath the main terminal to a concourse built in the middle of the airfield (in the drawing, the location would be to the right and above the runway 20/2 where there is not much going on).  I know that idea is probably cost prohibitive due to the cost of building an underground train tube, but this is a dream...remember?  :)

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  • 2 weeks later...
6 hours ago, eandslee said:

The people of Central Virginia (even the Hampton Roads area) need to fill these flights up!  How many decades have we been waiting for an opportunity like this?!  DAILY flights too!!  We must fill these flights or they will be lost forever - never to return.  Richmond, this is your chance to prove yourself that you can be a bigger city now - so bring on the bookings!

By the way, if you haven’t flown JetBlue before - it is a great airline!  Lots of free amenities like free snacks and drinks, free WiFi, and free Direct TV on the seat in front of you!  These are perks the legacy airlines don’t offer!!  You do have to pay for checking in your bag, but what airline doesn’t these days (okay, Southwest doesn’t, but they are the only one)?  Their jets are usually new and their service is excellent. Who would have thought that you could go to RIC and jump on a direct flight to LAX...I still can’t get over how huge this is for Richmond!  Las Vegas should be just as popular!  Most everyone loves Las Vegas - one of the entertainment capitals of the world!!  Again, this is huge!!  Tampa...another great Florida destination - probably competing against Allegiant Air who flies to St. Petersburg (PIE).  Southwest flew to Tampa once a week, I believe, before the pandemic, but JetBlue has aggressively come in and is about to set the standard!  I’ve been on cloud 9 all day long today!!  While we are getting what we ask for, can we be a hub or at least a focus city?  Just dreaming. 

FULLY AGREED!!  This is a HUGE opportunity for Richmond. Nice to see Richmond included in what Jet Blue obviously sees as "up-and-coming" service markets - Raleigh, Richmond ... given the growth Raleigh has had and the great success with their airport, this is something Richmond MUST MUST MUST MUST MUST take every advantage of and MAKE WORK!!  My brother works in corporate travel and he said this is something Richmond MUST STEP UP TO THE PLATE and embrace and utilize. This is the kind of business generator that will GREATLY aid Richmond in reaching that 340,000 population mark in the next 16-plus years. 

Jet Blue OBVIOUSLY sees a lot of potential for RIC as a service market. Let's prove them correct!

Time to step up to the big leagues, folks.

Edited by I miss RVA
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