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Norfolk International Airport

willy

By willy
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Norf Native
Norf Native

More detailed photos of the planned expansion.     https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/norfolk/new-design-for-norfolk-airport-terminal-revealed-as-well-as-2-new-destinations/

baobabs727
baobabs727

ORF was the third busiest airport in VA for 2021, behind the 2 DC airports, and thus eclipsed RIC in passenger count for the first time in a good while:   3,311,121 to 3,190,200.

walmartjamesbond
walmartjamesbond

The airport has narrowed down the hotel options to 3. Set to select a final option in September. Looks pretty interesting. Along with the hotel, it looks like the international gate  has  been expande

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Shakman Burg

Shakman

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Air traffic at Norfolk is dropping very quickly. Thank you, NNWIA and others. Thanks to our unimpressive performance as of late, I see no reason why a new airline would want to join our slumping airport. Sorry to be so blunt.

...and you can thank RIC for that matter. :D

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hoobo Burg

hoobo

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Actually, air traffic is up. Passenger count is down which I don't think should be unexpected given that legacy carriers like Delta and US Airways are cutting flights as part of their restructuring. In terms of low-cost carriers, ORF only has Southwest which can't carry the load by itself. PHF has AirTran which is great for a small airport, while RIC has gained both AirTran and JetBlue in the past year. So ORF is losing travel options while its competitors are gaining options. A new airline would easily reverse this year's slump and the recent downward trend in gains. Also, airport officials may want to see if travelers would prefer fewer daily nonstop flights to SD, L.A., and Seattle instead of the current several daily connecting flights. Then again, they would have to convince airlines to start nonstop service if the response is overwhelmingly in favor.

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spiker3 Hamlet

spiker3

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It hasn't been announced yet, but my company owns the company that runs some of the concessions at the airport. Next year there will be a full renovation, Beach Bully BBQ is being ripped out, Starbucks is being put in its place, Freemason is getting ripped out, im not sure for what, i believe A&W is still up in the air.

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spiker3 Hamlet

spiker3

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The shift is for more recognizable concepts i believe, while Freemason and Beach Bully are good for the locals, out of towners and businessman dont recognize. Also there are huge logistical issues with Bully, the BBQ has to be cooked at the beach location and transported in, the airport or the city wont allow them to cook it onsite for some reason. Just an overdue update, our company is doing this to the travel plazas up in the northeast and some of our revamped contracts in the airports. We sign an extension and update the facilities and concepts.

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okinawatyphoon Burg

okinawatyphoon

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The shift is for more recognizable concepts i believe, while Freemason and Beach Bully are good for the locals, out of towners and businessman dont recognize. Also there are huge logistical issues with Bully, the BBQ has to be cooked at the beach location and transported in, the airport or the city wont allow them to cook it onsite for some reason. Just an overdue update, our company is doing this to the travel plazas up in the northeast and some of our revamped contracts in the airports. We sign an extension and update the facilities and concepts.

Thanks for the inside info. As an out-of-towner, I would honestly rather have a Starbucks than a local place. When you're in an airport, you want familiar food that pleases the most people. I don't want to take a chance of getting sick on a plane because I ate something new.

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scm Hamlet

scm

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Also, airport officials may want to see if travelers would prefer fewer daily nonstop flights to SD, L.A., and Seattle instead of the current several daily connecting flights. Then again, they would have to convince airlines to start nonstop service if the response is overwhelmingly in favor.

Not bloody likely. Those destinations rank #4, 10, & 13 of ORF enplanements (link). Most ORF-SD traffic is DOD, which is driven by the GSA city pair contract with AA. AA could care less about what the customer wants - they have the contract, which means all US Gov't traffic between the two goes which ever way AA wants -- i.e., via ORD or DFW. As far as the other two, there aren't 100 enplanements a day to either from here, so no airline will ever dedicate an a/c if they don't get the loads they need. No competitive advantage. Off hub non-stops serve unique markets -- Austin to San Jose comes to mind. No such un-served market for ORF (JAX already has SWA non-stop).

And instead of chasing this trans-Atlantic pipe dream, Ole' Pete needs to turn his attention to getting JetBlue to fly here. Wonder why people fly from PHF? $173 RT on AirTran vs. $242 RT on US Air or DL from here to NYC. RIC-JFK is $143 on JetBlue. Have to believe they could make money here at the same price.

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spiker3 Hamlet

spiker3

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Starbucks is opening where Beach Bully used to be on Monday. There's another Starbucks down on the concourse for gates 1-14. First Colony is being removed for a Grab-N-Go sandwich/drink area. Freemason Abbey is scheduled to close January 7th (i think) to make way for Phillip's Seafood. Foggy Bottom restaurant has closed and is being turned into a sports bar.

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scm Hamlet

scm

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If we do end up getting regular flights to England, I wouldn't be surprised if Air Canada resumed their flights to Toronto. I think it was a mistake to remove those, but they had to do what was best financially I suppose.

Sorry to throw cold water on this pipe dream, but it is just that.

First, Cosmos is a package operator -- they bundle air and hotel and sell it as a package. Very popular concept in Europe -- see TUI, Thomas Cook, Thompson Holidays, etc. If you visit their web site, there is no way to book a flight from Norfolk to England and return. There is no ad for British holiday packages for Virginians.

Second, this flight operates one day a week -- Wednesday. If you want a ten day trip, tough. One size fits all. If you want to leave on a Friday and return on a Sunday (maximizing your vacation), tough. This was built to support the packages described above -- and they are packages for Brits to come here, not to serve as transportation.

Third, the fares aren't really competitive. Right now, the fare for July is 651 pounds, or $1,281. Go to Kayak.com and see that the same Wed-Wed intinerary is $1,008 and that is into Heathrow, with quick, frequent connections into London -- not into some airport into the middle of nowhere.

Now, this idea of Toronto direct flights. No way -- no demand. Probably why it ended in the first place. Toronto isn't in the top 25 destinations from here right now -- nor is any place in Canada (see link). Best chance for a non-stop would appear to be Las Vegas, not Toronto.

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Glassoul Whistle-Stop

Glassoul

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Now, this idea of Toronto direct flights. No way -- no demand. Probably why it ended in the first place. Toronto isn't in the top 25 destinations from here right now -- nor is any place in Canada (see link). Best chance for a non-stop would appear to be Las Vegas, not Toronto.

Norfolk already has a daily non-stop to Vegas with Southwest.

The Canadian demand is seasonal, May-Sept. As well, from my experience, many people here in Quebec prefer to drive down because it saves them money. My wife had about 3 people from her office come down last year, and all of them had families and all of them drove. Flying down and paying for a rental car is much more expensive than driving down in most cases.

Edited by Glassoul
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