Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion

[DigitalSky]

The preliminary traffic numbers are out for all airports across the world as reported by ACI (Airports Council International) who typically have the most comprehensive data.

Charlotte is now 13th businest airport in the word for aircraft movements! (total take-offs and landings of commercial and non-commercial planes) Charlotte also gained the greatest % in this category of all airports in the top 30.

Charlotte almost broke into the top 30 in the world for total passengers. We were somewhere in the 27M-28M range, with 30th place having about 29M passengers per year. Last year, Charlotte had less than 24M, so we are quickly moving up in this category as well.

That's very interesting. 13th busiest for aircraft movements is astonishing.

Edited April 3, 2006 by cantnot

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

That's very interesting. 13th busiest for aircraft movements is astonishing.

I heard that the cost of the second deck will be a lot higher due to construction cost increases.

This sounds stupid but I would rather not have a huge Southwest presence because I don't want to loose the US Airways hub, anytime in the future. The best solution would be to have a minor presence of low fare carriers to slowly lower Fares, rather than abrubtly lower fares. We would have the enplanements of Kansas City or Memphis if US Airways was replaced with a lot of different airlines with fewer routes.

[Seabreeze]

The new deck is flying along. Two cranes are up and they have already have the concrete poured for the first beams. It is really amazing watching how fast this is coming along, it seems everyday it looks a lot different.

It would definately be nice having more international carriers... as of now there are almost no international flights until the afternoon... Working in a business ont he D concourse makes it a little frustrating... thank god for E or there would be no one walking by until like 2pm!!

Edited April 4, 2006 by Seabreeze

[turbocraig]

Most international flights (Europe-bound) depart in the late afternoon. It's the same at all major airports (JFK, Newark, Dulles, etc). They arrive around 7-8A Eurotime of the following day. If they departed from the US any earlier, they'd arrive on the Continent in the wee hours of the morning when the airports aren't fully staffed. It's just a matter of arrival times.

It also makes it possible to make intra-Europe connections from the major airports to smaller cities without having a 6 hr layover somewhere. You won't find many Frankfurt-Stuttgart flights departing at 3AM.

Edited April 4, 2006 by turbocraig

[Richhamleigh, DC]

I hear that Lufthansa's doing reasonably well with their flight to Munich.

I read (somewhere) that Mexicana or AeroMexico was looking at starting flights to Mexico from North Carolina. Does anyone know anything more about this?

[turbocraig]

I believe it was Mexicana. I heard they were interested in adding a Charlotte - Mexico City flight about a year or so ago, but I haven't heard any update since.

[atlrvr]

The new deck is flying along. Two cranes are up and they have already have the concrete poured for the first beams. It is really amazing watching how fast this is coming along, it seems everyday it looks a lot different.

It would definately be nice having more international carriers... as of now there are almost no international flights until the afternoon... Working in a business ont he D concourse makes it a little frustrating... thank god for E or there would be no one walking by until like 2pm!!

I love our new parking deck (my ULTRA-conservative SUPER-right-wing friend hates it, so it must be progressive ) It is a shame that visitors to Charlotte see our most progressive structure before they even leave the airport.

I'm craving the new deck to be completed with its red lighting scheme.....

Turbrocraig - I remeber that too, but I'm thinking that they cancelled that plan when USAirways picked up the route as a code-sharing route....not sure though. MC?

Edited April 4, 2006 by atlrvr

[turbocraig]

Ah yes, that could very well be it. But the USAirways flights aren't codeshares. They're true US-operated flights. You can get AeroMexico flights out of here via Atlanta to Mexico city, but those are really Delta-operated codeshares.

[DigitalSky]

Yeah, the new deck at the airport is truly awesome. I love the blue/green glass and the curves of the facade, if only all Charlotte decks were as spectacular as that one. *sigh*

[Miesian Corners]

I love our new parking deck (my ULTRA-conservative SUPER-right-wing friend hates it, so it must be progressive ) It is a shame that visitors to Charlotte see our most progressive structure before they even leave the airport.

I'm craving the new deck to be completed with its red lighting scheme.....

Turbrocraig - I remeber that too, but I'm thinking that they cancelled that plan when USAirways picked up the route as a code-sharing route....not sure though. MC?

Mexicana got "released" from the Star Alliance, so I doubt they'll be coming to CLT anytime soon. Their whole reason for wanting to be here was for connex to US Airways.

On another front, I have heard rumors from friends at Star that we might be getting the biggest deal of our little airport's life. Seems that Delta is beginning non-stop service to Johannesburg this summer and is ending its codeshare with South African Airways (SAA). SAA just joined Star and will be looking for a city to move the ATL flight to. IAD already has SAA where it codeshares with UAL. There is speculation that SAA will come here three days a week utilizing USA connex while retaining a Southeastern US presence. The idea that CLT would have non-stops to J'burg is pretty darn exciting to me.

Lastly, I'm sure everyone has read this am's Observer. jetBlue will begin CLT-JFK service this summer.

[TravisNC]

Mexicana got "released" from the Star Alliance, so I doubt they'll be coming to CLT anytime soon. Their whole reason for wanting to be here was for connex to US Airways.

Actually Mexicana left/was thrown out of the Star Alliance before they applied for CLT service. Mexicana left on March 31, 2004. They didn't apply for CLT-MEX until November 30, 2004 (and Guadalajara on 1/3/05).

But, I don't think they're coming anytime soon either. They were approved for service to both cities less than a month after they applied and they're still not flying to CLT. However in Nov & Dec of last year they applied to have their exemptions to fly the routes extended, so maybe CLT is still in the cards. It would be cool to have another International airline at CLT. Let's bring back British Airways while we're at it.

Here's where I got the dates/info if anyone's interested:

Mexico City

http://dms.dot.gov/search/searchResultsAdv...chType=document

Guadalajara

http://dms.dot.gov/search/searchResultsAdv...chType=document

[queensguy06]

Just to give a few quick updates as to the future of Charlotte/Douglas...

For an economic/development project on Charlotte I just completed, part of the that project included some general information on the airport. I contacted Jack Christine, who is an airport planner for Charlotte/Douglas, and asked him a few questions. Here is the e-mail response he sent, enjoy!

1.) What airline carriers can Charlotte expect to see expand into the region over the next 15 - 20 years?

[Christine, Jack] It is possible that we may see one or two additional low fare carriers enter the market; however, from an overall perspective, we have service from all of the major US carriers and we would expect to see additional service from those carriers rather than a flood of new entrant carriers in the market. There are only so many carriers in existence today and it looks like the market is looking to reduce the number of carriers rather that expand.

2.) When is the newly proposed runway expected to be operational, and are there plans for another concourse to accomodate heavier traffic?

[Christine, Jack] The new runway can be operational by late 2009; however, we have not set a hard date for opening yet. We are designing a 24 gate expansion for Concourse 'E' right now. That project will be completed in stages with the first 6 of those gates being constructed in the next 12 to 18 months. We also have plans for a 12 gate expansion for Concourse 'B' which can be done when the need arises. Finally, we have plans to design and construct a 25 gate international concourse when the demand for international service exceeds our current capacity. That is a longer range project.

3.) Is Charlotte/Douglas International Airport preparing for larger commerical aircraft such as the Boeing 787 and Airbus A-380, and if so, when can we expect to see such aircraft?

[Christine, Jack] The existing facility can accommodate the new 787. When it begins service here is purely a function of when and if a carrier puts the aircraft in service for this market. The A380, however, cannot be accommodated here because of the airfield and terminal modifications that are necessary for the operation of that aircraft. The A380 is really a specialized aircraft that will serve a small number of cities in the US (i.e. New York, San Francisco, etc.) that have a very large local market combined with an international hub operation.

[Mobuchu]

cool, thanks for the info queensguy

[dubone]

Welcome to UP qg06. The airport is definately a major part our economic generation, so it is good to see how much progress they plan in the next few years.

[PghUSA]

Just wanted to extend my congratulations to the city and region of Charlotte and welcome you all aboard the JetBlue family of destinations. Long overdue in my opinion (I am still surprised Southwest doesn't serve Charlotte yet).

Hopefully one day there will be a Pittsburgh-Charlotte direct on JetBlue, for the two major metros that joined in ol' 2006 (I don't consider Jax or Raleigh that "major" though they are every bit a "metro").

[RiverwoodCLT]

PghUSA how is PITTSBURGH's airport doing?

[cinco]

just heard that US AIR is slashing it's prices on all flights to NY (laguardia and newark) in anticipation of JETBLUE. let the competition begin...

[dubone]

The city will definitely benefit from that.

[PghUSA]

PghUSA how is PITTSBURGH's airport doing?

Pittsburgh is doing pretty well, USAirways reduction (though we are still a focus city and they have just added more maintence jobs so things are bouncing back) is over so things have stablized there, in the last 12 months, Southwest added 12 or so flights a day to 6 cities, Midwest Airlines has added 4 or so a day to 2 cities, Northwest and Continental have expanded some, JetBlue is coming in with 3-4 flights a day to 2 cities, and Hooters and Independence Air have done great things (though sadly now they and their 4-5 flights a day are gone to Ch. 11). Overall it's been a healthy rebound but I'd still like them to get that 5th runway built and a few international carriers besides AirCanada (hard to do when there is such proximity to Philly, Dulles and JFK, something Charlotte is blessed to not have).

Glad to see JetBlue fly into the Queen City (of the south at least) and that your fourth runway is progressing.

[Rickydavisfan21]

when are we getting hooters air :-( hehe

interesting that hooters air is pulling out of myrtle beach, where hooters air was started, I wonder if there are any other air travel services that have completely pulled out of their hometown, sounds pretty bad for myrtle beach, or any other city that would happen to, anyone know if that has happed with anyother airlines?

Edited April 26, 2006 by Rickydavisfan21

[queensguy06]

I don't think they are just pulling out of Myrtle Beach. From what I read the airline is pretty much done, except for charter flights. No more Hooters Air

[kickazzz2000]

Some more news,

In addition to slashing LGA fares, US has announced that they will start 4X daily A320 service CLT-JFK. This will be on MAINLINE America West metal. It will be interesting to see whether they can fill all those seats after dumping so much capacity onto the market in retaliation to B6.

SAA has dropped ATL in favor of daily IAD a few days ago. Would be nice to see SAA here in CLT, but it looks like it might be farther down the road. Any more inside info on that would be greatly appreciated.

[Miesian Corners]

^I'm not saying your statement is not true, but I've seen nowhere in any company publication or news release anything about CLT-JFK service. Even more strange is that US would use HP metal for the route. HP doesn't even serve PHX-CLT.

[Dwight Shroot]

I hear that Lufthansa's doing reasonably well with their flight to Munich.

I read (somewhere) that Mexicana or AeroMexico was looking at starting flights to Mexico from North Carolina. Does anyone know anything more about this?

Does anyone have any information on how Lufthansa's doing on this route? I heard they weren't getting the connection traffic they anticipated but that O&D loads were better than anticipated. Didn't they decrease the frequency of service some time back to less than 7x per week?

[Miesian Corners]

This is probably not the thread in which to post this, but I saw the Stephen Colbert piece on 60 Minutes Sunday night. His father and brother were killed in the Eastern Airlines DC-9 crash at Charlotte in 1974.