Jump to content

Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion


uptownliving

Recommended Posts

With the Amex's Centurion Lounge coming soon, am I missing any other lounges at CLT:

USO Lounge, Priority Pass Minute Suites,  AA Admirals Club (concourse B), & AA Admirals Club (concourse C).  I know we don't service Delta as much here but I wish we had a Delta Sky Club Lounge.  Saw that RDU has one.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


3 minutes ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

With the Amex's Centurion Lounge coming soon, am I missing any other lounges at CLT:

USO Lounge, Priority Pass Minute Suites,  AA Admirals Club (concourse B), & AA Admirals Club (concourse C).  I know we don't service Delta as much here but I wish we had a Delta Sky Club Lounge.  Saw that RDU has one.

The USO is the 2nd or 3rd busiest USO in the USA due to all the flights to major military bases such as Jacksonville, Fayetteville, Norfolk, Savannah, and connections to Germany.  Forgot flights to New Bern (for Cherry Point) and when Fort Jackson empties out for Christmas break they are all bused to CLT in Operation Exodus. 

Edited by KJHburg
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you have business trips mainly on the north side of metro Atlanta and are traveling for business, definitely check out Ultimate Air Shuttle's new service to Atlanta's Dekalb-Peachtree Airport on March 18th. Service is twice per day in each direction and at CLT, service is out of the private Wilson Air Terminal (less crowds and park your car right at the door). Prices are $270 round trip most days and include bags, etc... It is fairly competitive pricing with AA and DL for a private charter experience. 

Total scheduled travel time from departure to arrival is 45 minutes on a Fairchild Dornier 328 jet seating 30 passengers. You also just need to be at the airport about 20 minutes before departure and show your ID to the pilot to board. Great for flying out in the AM, getting your meetings done, and being home by dinner. When you take the convenience into account and possibly avoiding an overnight hotel stay, it can be a great deal for business travelers. 

Edited by CLT2014
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, csweet said:

Just left the airport and saw covered walkways going up at departure level. Does this mean no more canopy? They were small metal covered walkways, sorry I couldn't get a pic. 

I believe they have to construct temporary walkway bridges from the terminal to the new arrival lanes so they can dismantle the old arrival lanes. Maybe that's what you saw? 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

I believe they have to construct temporary walkway bridges from the terminal to the new arrival lanes so they can dismantle the old arrival lanes. Maybe that's what you saw? 

It was being built upstairs on the new departure level lanes. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, csweet said:

It was being built upstairs on the new departure level lanes. 

Probably something temporary for while the canopy gets built. 2+ years of leaving people out in the rain would justify at least something temporary to keep people dry until the canopy is complete. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, CLT2014 said:

Probably something temporary for while the canopy gets built. 2+ years of leaving people out in the rain would justify at least something temporary to keep people dry until the canopy is complete. 

http://www.cltairport.com/News/Documents/Publications/The Navigator Feb 2019.pdf

Confirmed as temporary while construction is ongoing.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=93146

"In October 2018, the FAA completed a Runway Length Analysis as part of the EIS process. The analysis determined that a shorter runway length of 10,000 feet is adequate to accommodate aircraft that will operate at the airport in the future. The original proposed runway length was 12,000 feet."

It sounds like this decision was out of CLT's hands.  A bit of a bummer  given that part of the reason they were building the extended runway was to accommodate longer flights.    Most major airport seem to have at least one "longer" runway of 11,000 feet or more.

I know it's been discussed that 18/36C is long enough to handle Trans-Pac Asia flights so hopefully this is update is due to newer aircraft technology and not an outlook that does not include a need for a longer runway.  (IE Tokyo, Asia cargo, etc..)

Edited by CltFlyer
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

56 minutes ago, CltFlyer said:
 

"In October 2018, the FAA completed a Runway Length Analysis as part of the EIS process. The analysis determined that a shorter runway length of 10,000 feet is adequate to accommodate aircraft that will operate at the airport in the future. The original proposed runway length was 12,000 feet."

 

Will the taxiways still wrap around this runway? This might be a good thing in the end as the design and construction process might speed up some. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very interesting. I believe CLT already has the "shortest" longest runways of any major hub in the US. LAX/BWI/ATL/DFW/DTW/IAH/MCO/MIA/MSP/EWR/JFK/PHL/PDX/STL/SFO/SEA/CVG/PIT/IND (I'm sure there are more, not including the traditional "hot and high" airports of PHX/LAS/SLC/DEN)  all have at least one runway that is longer than 10,000 feet.

CLT certainly isn't considered "hot and high" per say, but I am willing to bet that an aircraft at MTOW would struggle to reach Asia during July or August.

One thing I never considered is whether it would be possible to extend 18C/36C incrementally to say 10,500 or 11,000 feet, and if that would receive FAA approval. 

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/25/2019 at 1:26 PM, CltFlyer said:

To celebrate 15 years of service to CLT.  Lufthansa is sending the A350 on  March 26th, before beginning regular service on March 31st!  If we were A380 capable,  I wonder if they would have  considered sending one?

 

So CLT isn’t capable of receiving an A380?  Thought we were a major airport...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Hushpuppy321 said:

So CLT isn’t capable of receiving an A380?  Thought we were a major airport...

The A380 program was just shut down by Airbus, not enough sales.  Sure the ones still out their will be flying for a while, 90% are with Emirates.  massive failure and flop.  Same can be said for the 'new' 747-800 that launched at the same time.  90% less sales then even the A380 received.  Only thing that keeps the production line open of the 747-800 is the fact it can be ordered as a cargo version as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

Why were these particular models such failures? What's next?

Too expensive to operate because of fuel efficiency in large part to their massive size and 4 engines. Airlines are moving towards more smaller fuel efficient planes that they can run schedules more frequently between two destinations. For example, instead of having two daily flights let’s say between LA and London on a Boeing 747-8 or A380, Airlines now are leaning towards flying 4 daily flights between LA and London on A350s or Boeing 787s. And their operating costs believe it or not will probably be less with 4 daily flights vs the two just because of how expensive the jumbos are vs the smaller more efficient transcon planes.

A380s are a great idea in theory because of slot restricted airports like London Heathrow so airlines figured they can try to pack as many people in a single slot as possible, but the cost of operating the planes just haven’t made it entirely too worth it for the airlines. That’s why Emirates converted their new plane order to smaller planes like the A350 instead of ordering more A380s, which that decision killed the A380 program because Emirates was the largest operator.

Edited by saamh
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

^^You aren't kidding about packing as many people into a single slot as possible.  Rode in an A380 London to Johannesburg this past month and that upper deck is tight.  The flight Charlotte to London had way more leg space than that flight.  I know BA designed their upper deck to be coach and pack us in like sardines but man that was an uncomfortable 11 hr trip each way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is important to note that the A380 isn't going anywhere anytime soon...an article posted the other day stresses how "passengers will miss the flying experience...".

The plane is still in production until 2021, and ANA and Emirates have A380s that are waiting to be delivered, with EK receiving 14 new A380s over the next two years. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, SouthEndCLT811 said:

^^You aren't kidding about packing as many people into a single slot as possible.  Rode in an A380 London to Johannesburg this past month and that upper deck is tight.  The flight Charlotte to London had way more leg space than that flight.  I know BA designed their upper deck to be coach and pack us in like sardines but man that was an uncomfortable 11 hr trip each way.

British Airways is awful, I just flew them from London to Oslo, it was one of the worst flying experiences, tight space, old plane, and you had to pay for even water! As much as we complain about US carriers they are still way better than at least British Airways 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.