Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion

[Ryepow]

I can't wait for the CLT-FCO flight. I will be booking tickets for this flight as soon as I can. I just hope customs will be ready to handle all of these new international flights. That area is not designed to handle to many more people. It's tiny compared to other airports I have been in. I'm lucky that I am in no rush when I arrive from an international flight into CLT. All I have to do after immigration is pick up my bag and catch the shuttle bus to my car. Most people are making connections and are choosing CLT to avoid the hassle of larger airports or the volume of traffic in the northeast. If they get delayed long enough and miss their connection because it takes to long to clear immigration, retrieve their luggage, recheck their bags, go through security and make their way to their next gate, then people are likely to avoid making the same mistake twice and avoid connecting from a international flight in CLT in the future.

[SentioVenia]

^^^Yeah, it will be interesting to see how the flight times are staggered. When USAirways' Frankfurt and London flights plus Lufthansa's Munich flight all dump out at similar times into customs, it gets a little crowded back there.

[atlrvr]

I know that the new international terminal can't begin until the new parking deck/terminal widening is completed, but hopefully this addition of international flights means that they will start on the new international terminal as soon as possible.

[CltFlyer]

with additions of paris, sao paulo hopefully, rome, and rio. Charlotte is finally becoming an international hub for usairways. How long will it last however.

[cltbwimob]

The Rome announcement is good news. Also flight schedules for next November and early December (may or may not be reliable) indicated that CLT-CDG will extend into the winter although it will be reduced to maybe 3-4x per week and downgraded to a 767. The Lufthansa scheduler indicated that the winter route to MUC will be operated on the A340-600 next year in addition to summer's A340-600.

There is also chatter floating around several places that CLT-MAD and CLT-DUB will come soon. One even suggested within the next 2 years. I think that will be the end of Transatlantic expansion for US from CLT for now. Maybe one day, they will add a flight to AMS and to ZRH.

I think any major international expansion beyond MAD and DUB will come in the form of trips to South America. In addition to the planned GIG route and the hopeful GRU route, I think US may try to get BOG again when more frequencies become available, especially since they could fly this route on a narrowbody such as the A320. I also think that if US wants to make serious in-roads into South America, they would also need an EZE flight. They also might enter LIM considering their codeshare with TACA, or, maybe TACA could fly to CLT on it's own metal. Maybe eventually flights to Santiago, Quito, Caracas and Manaus will follow.

I hope one day in the next 5-10 years to see the return of a BA 777-200 to LHR, a Lufthansa A340-300 to FRA to augment the once daily service US already has, and an ANA 787 flight to NRT, although these may be a little on the wishful thinking side.

[CltFlyer]

The Rome announcement is good news. Also flight schedules for next November and early December (may or may not be reliable) indicated that CLT-CDG will extend into the winter although it will be reduced to maybe 3-4x per week and downgraded to a 767. The Lufthansa scheduler indicated that the winter route to MUC will be operated on the A340-600 next year in addition to summer's A340-600.

There is also chatter floating around several places that CLT-MAD and CLT-DUB will come soon. One even suggested within the next 2 years. I think that will be the end of Transatlantic expansion for US from CLT for now. Maybe one day, they will add a flight to AMS and to ZRH.

I think any major international expansion beyond MAD and DUB will come in the form of trips to South America. In addition to the planned GIG route and the hopeful GRU route, I think US may try to get BOG again when more frequencies become available, especially since they could fly this route on a narrowbody such as the A320. I also think that if US wants to make serious in-roads into South America, they would also need an EZE flight. They also might enter LIM considering their codeshare with TACA, or, maybe TACA could fly to CLT on it's own metal. Maybe eventually flights to Santiago, Quito, Caracas and Manaus will follow.

I hope one day in the next 5-10 years to see the return of a BA 777-200 to LHR, a Lufthansa A340-300 to FRA to augment the once daily service US already has, and an ANA 787 flight to NRT, although these may be a little on the wishful thinking side.

that surprises me from lufthansa right now its only 5 days a week on a 333. It may be very fell the end of Transatlantic expansion for a while for US but really if we get mad 2011 summer. And Dub 2012 or maybe even 2011 as well.......what more could you ask for. Oh and also Cdg( paris) will be year round with 767-200 winter 332 in summer.

Edited December 7, 2009 by CltFlyer

[cltbwimob]

that surprises me from lufthansa right now its only 5 days a week on a 333. It may be very fell the end of Transatlantic expansion for a while for US but really if we get mad 2011 summer. And Dub 2012 or maybe even 2011 as well.......what more could you ask for. Oh and also Cdg( paris) will be year round with 767-200 winter 332 in summer.

I think maybe Lufthansa is banking on the recession being over by then, but who knows? All I know is I checked their schedules for late November/early December 2010 and it said A340-600.

As far as what else I could ask for...like I said BA 777 to LHR, second daily to FRA on an LH A340-300, and ANA 787 to Tokyo in addition to the South American cities listed.

Edited December 8, 2009 by cltbwimob

[CltFlyer]

yes it is on the usairways site and lufthansa usa site as well.... All we can do is wait and see.

[uptownliving]

The initial Rio flight took off on time yesterday with a nearly full flight.

There are some pics of the event and youtube videos posted on airliners.net:

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/4639207/

Next up will be Honolulu tomorrow.

At the Electorlux HQ announcement this morning the CEO challenged US Airways to start a non-stop to Stockholm from Charlotte. That is a pretty thin market...but who knows what could happen.

[sharkdawg]

It wouldn't be to far of a stretch for US Airways to add a year round flight between Charlotte and Stockholm. They are currently running a 6-month version of this flight during the spring and summer month between Philly and Stockholm. Since it seems like US Airways is transitioning more and more international business from Philly to Charlotte, I don't see why they can't move that flight.

[Miesian Corners]

It wouldn't be to far of a stretch for US Airways to add a year round flight between Charlotte and Stockholm. They are currently running a 6-month version of this flight during the spring and summer month between Philly and Stockholm. Since it seems like US Airways is transitioning more and more international business from Philly to Charlotte, I don't see why they can't move that flight.

US dumped service to ARN for next summer. It's one of the cities we pulled out of completely. Maybe this will be the thing that actually brings it back. After all, the main reason US started service to Manchester, UK (MAN) back in '99 was due to one drug company agreeing to buy X amount of seats every week.

[CLT]

The initial Rio flight took off on time yesterday with a nearly full flight.

There are some pics of the event and youtube videos posted on airliners.net:

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/4639207/

Next up will be Honolulu tomorrow.

Great news!

I was a little disappointed The Observer online made no mention of the 2 new flights that started this week. I remember they had an article about Paris when it started in the spring.

[cltbwimob]

US dumped service to ARN for next summer. It's one of the cities we pulled out of completely. Maybe this will be the thing that actually brings it back. After all, the main reason US started service to Manchester, UK (MAN) back in '99 was due to one drug company agreeing to buy X amount of seats every week.

I think now a CLT-ARN flight could possibly work. Two major Swedish companies have set up a US HQ in Charlotte this year, and a lot of those jobs will be of the White Collar variety which may necessitate travel to and from Sweden. In addition there are between 20&25 (IIRC) Swedish companies with offices in Charlotte already. Charlotte has a hub which handles approximately 25 million connecting passengers (compared to PHL' approximately 10 million). Finally, the CEO apparently wants a flight to Stockholm from Charlotte. Might be a good recipe for a CLT-ARN flight.

Also I think it was on this forum there was chatter, I think on this thread, about an SAS CLT-CPH flight in order to open up to the Southeastern US market...Well, SAS is a Star Alliance airline, and Stockholm is one of their other hubs.

How would everyone like to see this on final to runway 18C in CLT?

Edited December 17, 2009 by cltbwimob

[uptownliving]

The new LCD Flight Info screens have been installed in the Ticketing Lobby. They look good. They have them oriented vertically. Long over due.

You can see them in this report from WCNC:

http://www.wcnc.com/news/Record-snow-closes-DC-airports-causes-delays-in-Charlotte-79737632.html

[Guest]

The new LCD Flight Info screens have been installed in the Ticketing Lobby. They look good. They have them oriented vertically. Long over due.

You can see them in this report from WCNC:

http://www.wcnc.com/...e-79737632.html

Those are great lookin!

[caterpillar2]

Those are great lookin!

I read in the travel section of today's paper (sunday) that there was a trip to Dublin from Charlotte with five nights included for $700 plus. Do we actually have flights from Charlotte to Dublin?

[InitialD]

I read in the travel section of today's paper (sunday) that there was a trip to Dublin from Charlotte with five nights included for $700 plus. Do we actually have flights from Charlotte to Dublin?

Flights from Charlotte to Dublin? Yes. Non-stop flights from Charlotte to Dublin? No. I frequently check the "Buzz" section of Kayak.com and Dublin is often one of the cheapest European destinations from Charlotte, followed by Barcelona and London.

[tozmervo]

The last US Airways E-Saver had roundtrip airfare from CLT to Dublin for $350 and CLT to Madrid for $300. I remember some similarly dirt cheap flights for London and others last January/February. Good time to go to Europe if you can stand the cold.

[uptownliving]

Charlotte Airport made the NBC Nightly News tonight as people were diverted here from airports closed further north. Typically this would be a bad story but the passenger that they interviewed had the biggest smile on his face while telling everyone he was directed to Charlotte from Philly. Maybe US Airways was giving out free liquor on the diverted flight or maybe the guy had just popped some happy pills. Who knows...but some of you will be glad to know that Charlotte was referred to mulitple times without the "NC"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#34500949

[CltFlyer]

about diversions Clt-Honolulu has diverted 5 times in the first 5 days of operation. For more fuel

[atlrvr]

I would assume they will cancel this flight as opposed to putting a 330-200, if the 767 just doesn't have the legs.

[uptownliving]

There are extremely strong headwinds right now that are preventing the CLT-Honolulu flight from being Non-Stop when it heads westbound. This is not the only "non-stop" flight that has had to stop for gas along the way. Alaska Air's Seattle -> Honolulu has had to stop in Oakland for gas. Once the headwinds die down to something more normal the 767 will make the westbound trek just fine.

[CltFlyer]

There are extremely strong headwinds right now that are preventing the CLT-Honolulu flight from being Non-Stop when it heads westbound. This is not the only "non-stop" flight that has had to stop for gas along the way. Alaska Air's Seattle -> Honolulu has had to stop in Oakland for gas. Once the headwinds die down to something more normal the 767 will make the westbound trek just fine.

yes but Delta has made it from Atlanta all 5 days.

[uptownliving]

yes but Delta has made it from Atlanta all 5 days.

Delta isn't using 767s bought by Piedmont Airlines 20 years ago on the cheap. US Airways could put on of their A330s on this route and just like Delta it would make it all the way. It is a financial equation. For the time being US Air feels they make more money right now keeping the 767 on this route with the tech stop in Phoenix to refuel in high wind conditions. If these high winds persist then the financial equation would make sense to pull an A330 off a Europe route and put it on Hawaii.

My guess is the high winds will die down in a few days and the 767 will fly the westbound route non stop. I would note all the eastbound flights from Hawaii to Charlotte have all made it non stop.

[CltFlyer]

It would require a 332 which Us doesn't want to use a new aircraft on a low yielding route. A much more smarter option is to buy an engine up grade for 2 762's b/c the ones they have now don't have the range b/c us went cheap.