Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion

[CltFlyer]

2 new major international destinations in one year would be huge for charlotte.

And i hear that usairway asked for rome slots for next summer...so we could have another next year if not a second one to ireland.

[ScottCLT]

Today they released the final passenger stats for Charlotte in 2008. Another record breaking year with a total of 34,739,020 people using the airport. That is a 5% increase over 2007. With that jump in numbers will raise up a couple spots on the World Rankings of Busiest Airports. In 2007 we were #30. The final numbers arnt in but we will likely move up to #28 surpassing Tokyo-Narita, Minneapolis-St Paul, and Miami. We are just behind Munich and Detroit.

Interestingly enough, I just read this on Wikipedia today. They have the January-October numbers for 2008 posted, and Charlotte was listed as #28 at that time - just like you said, following Munich and Detroit and followed by Narita and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Not that I consider Wikipedia a source for 100% definitive answers, but at least for the first 3 quarters stats, it follows exactly what you are predicting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_b...ssenger_traffic

[ssh214]

If only DOT would have approved the route to Bogota in 2007. Charlotte could have had potentially two routes to two South American cities and countries. Don't be surprise though if TAM, a star alliance member decides to create a route from Sao Paolo to Charlotte in light of USAIRWAYS proposed route to Rio.

[atlrvr]

I still don't understand why USAirways hasn't appealed the Bogota decision. I believe that either CO or AA hasn't used all their allotted slots and that they could be forced forfeit them if another airline challenged them.

I'd still like to see Lima, which I bet would be next if Rio goes well.

So far, Charlotte has survived the reductions in service much better than many hubs around the country. Hopefully this remains the case.

[ssh214]

Another big question that I have is why on Earth did they give the Bogota routes to JetBlue and Spirit Airways. Does not make sense to me one bit. A possibility is it might have to do with USIARWAYS financial problems but still, JetBlue and Spirit, big flop on the part of DOT

[CltFlyer]

I still don't understand why USAirways hasn't appealed the Bogota decision. I believe that either CO or AA hasn't used all their allotted slots and that they could be forced forfeit them if another airline challenged them.

I'd still like to see Lima, which I bet would be next if Rio goes well.

So far, Charlotte has survived the reductions in service much better than many hubs around the country. Hopefully this remains the case.

Yes imagine it would either be lima or Buenos Aires. And it actually helps that US is a new entrant to the area. So bogota wasn't that bad of a denial besides who would really go to Bogota??

[ScottCLT]

I received an email from Continental Airlines today announcing their departure from SkyTeam and entry into Star Alliance. I wonder if this will eventually mean more Continental service to Charlotte? It won't be until October until it happens, but I will definitely enjoy racking up US Airways miles while flying Continental.

Here are the contents of the email...

In June 2008, Continental announced plans for extensive commercial cooperation with United Airlines and Star Alliance, linking our networks and services worldwide to deliver new benefits to our customers. We pledged to keep you informed of developments and would like to provide you an update.

Regarding SkyTeam, Continental intends to end its participation in the SkyTeam Alliance after the last scheduled flight on Oct. 24, 2009.

We continue to work through the details of our planned exit from SkyTeam and entry into Star Alliance, but anticipate our participation in Star Alliance will begin promptly after we leave SkyTeam. We are committed to providing our OnePass members with opportunities to earn and redeem miles over an extensive network.

We will be working hard with our good partners at SkyTeam, and our future good partners at Star, to make the transition from SkyTeam to Star Alliance as smooth as possible.

You can expect to receive updates from us as we continue to develop our participation in Star Alliance. Remember the most current updates may be found at continental.com.

As always, many thanks for flying Continental. We appreciate your business.

Sincerely,

Mark Bergsrud

Sr. Vice President, Marketing Programs and Distribution

[rockhilljames]

I got that too.

Wouldn't that be an increase in ride-sharing with USAirways?

[ssh214]

I really don't see an increase in flights for Continental. Isn't this the same Continental that is almost bankrupt? They are hardly in a position to be adding any more service from a city that is already monopolized by USAIRWAYS. It will be an increase code-sharing nothing else. If Continental were to increase it's service in any USAIRWAYS hub it would be in Philadelphia due its population size. The merger with Continental will have little impact for Charlotte, it will be same as United basically.

[CltFlyer]

I really don't see an increase in flights for Continental. Isn't this the same Continental that is almost bankrupt? They are hardly in a position to be adding any more service from a city that is already monopolized by USAIRWAYS. It will be an increase code-sharing nothing else. If Continental were to increase it's service in any USAIRWAYS hub it would be in Philadelphia due its population size. The merger with Continental will have little impact for Charlotte, it will be same as United basically.

Actually this summer co is flying 4x 735 to last years 1x on the clt-ewr flight at the cost of less ex flts

[U4ick]

I have been flying out of CLT every week for the past few months. There for a while I was amazed at how fast the third parallel runway was getting paved. Unfortunately

this has slowed considerable over the past 1+ months......hopefully this is just due to weather. I remember thinking back in November how much they seemed to be ahead

of schedule and whether we would have to wait until Jan 2010 for it to open....now that date is seeming more realistic. Nothing started yet on the expanded ticketing check-in,

or demoloshing of the old hourly parking deck......expecting to see this start happening any week now!

[ssh214]

I think what they really need to get working on is that new international terminal. With the announcement of all these potential new routes across the globe, Charlotte needs a world class international terminal.

[RiverwoodCLT]

They can not lay down asphalt when the temperature goes below freezing. The weather has been too cold for asphalt.

[kickazzz2000]

Isn't this the same Continental that is almost bankrupt?

Continental is profitable, and award winning.

[CltFlyer]

I think what they really need to get working on is that new international terminal. With the announcement of all these potential new routes across the globe, Charlotte needs a world class international terminal.

Yes we do need the international terminal but that cannot be started on untill the hourly parking decks are demolished, built back up, and all the rental car facilities have moved into them.

[New Name]

I just flew back from Aruba and we passed through US immigration and customs in the Aruba Airport - meaning we didn't have to do it in CLT. I don't fly internationally often, but I was wondering what's the deal with that? Is that pretty normal, does it have to do with the size of US Customs in CLT?

[uptownliving]

Doesn't have to do with the size of Immigraitons in CLT but has to do with the number of US travellers to Aruba. All of the Canadian airports that have service to the US have a US Customs and Immigrations that you go through before you board your plane back to the USA. Just an easier way of dealing with the numbers of travelers that travel between the 2 countries. Most countries don't do this and so you go through Customs and Immigraiton when you get back to CLT.

[JayGee]

I just flew back from Aruba and we passed through US immigration and customs in the Aruba Airport - meaning we didn't have to do it in CLT. I don't fly internationally often, but I was wondering what's the deal with that? Is that pretty normal, does it have to do with the size of US Customs in CLT?

It's called Customs Pre-Clearance and it is fairly common at vacation destinations. I grew up in Bermuda and my mother was a Customs agent at U.S. Customs there.

[dubone]

Although it is silly, for many of us who think the bathrooms at CLT are poorly maintained, this pic from my trip through CLT last week may be amusing:

[monsoon]

Admittedly I have not flown regularly for several years so it might have changed, but in the days that I used to fly weekly for work, I never had any complaints about the cleanliness of the Charlotte airport. That compares to some truly disgusting things that I have seen in some of the other airports in the nation. In fact, it seemed to me Charlotte is one of the better airports in the country in terms of being clean and having well maintained bathrooms. Jerry Orr gets a lot of criticism, including from me as well, but he does run a clean airport.

[U4ick]

What stands out to me compared to a lot of airports I have been to lately......CLT has no shortage of a variety of restaurants and bars to hang-out in during a layover! Chicago and

LA have nothing on us.......then again, I am comparing CLT to just the US Airways Terminals

in the other cities. Just remember to think twice about ordering that last beer if your flight is at the end of the E Concourse......it's like running a short marathon!!

[CltFlyer]

On flyertalk.com in the Sas forums people believe that a new realistic flight could be Cph-Clt to reach the southern USA through star alliance codeshare connections.

How great it would be to have a second overseas tail at concourse D whats ur imput on this?

Edited February 11, 2009 by CltFlyer

[HopHead]

On flyertalk.com in the Sas forums people believe that a new realistic flight could be Cph-Clt to reach the southern USA through star alliance codeshare connections.

How great it would be to have a second overseas tail at concourse D whats ur imput on this?

For those that don't speak "airport", this is Copenhagen, Denmark. That would be sweet if we did get a flight there. I have one friend that would stoked as he has family there.

[CltFlyer]

Sas has always been the airline id least expect to serve clt lol

[atlrvr]

I'm ancestorially Danish, and my older son loves Legos....let me pack my bags.

I'm hopeful, but not convinced. SAS has been pulling out of North American markets I thought.