Norfolk International Airport

[BFG]

Frontier will offer nonstop service to Phoenix and Tampa soon. The nonstop to Vegas begins this weekend. I wish ORF could become a Frontier hub.

https://pilotonline.com/news/local/transportation/article_825b36cc-9b3f-11e8-8b92-d3d867b2495b.html

[baobabs727]

This news is most welcomed. Diversity & competition are key to lowering airfares here. Non-stop component is big. 

[urbanvb]

ORF is closing the airport late nights due to resurfacing. 

https://pilotonline.com/inside-business/news/maritime-and-transportation/article_d1229d88-9a7f-11e8-be24-af809fd61c08.html?spMailingID=14025709&spUserID=Mjc1NDQ4MTE0MTY4S0&spJobID=1460729831&spReportId=MTQ2MDcyOTgzMQS2

The article state flights in the air during the renovation will be sent to Richmond and bussed to ORF. Wouldn’t Newport News be a lot closer?

Edited August 10, 2018 by urbanvb

[Virginia City]

It would be a lot closer but that airport might not be able to handle the extra flights

[Urbanlooker]

ORF saw an 11.4% increase in passenger traffic last month vs. July last year, it was the busiest July since 2005.

https://pilotonline.com/inside-business/news/maritime-and-transportation/article_d673b39c-a49f-11e8-a0a3-af3c511b8a06.html

Edited August 21, 2018 by Urbanlooker

[BFG]

Another double-digit jump. More than 364K in August, up 12% from 2017. The storm will probably affect September numbers, but I'm thinking we could see 400K at some point this year.

https://www.norfolkairport.com/sites/default/files/August 2018 Media Release.pdf

[Urbanlooker]

Passenger traffic increased 2.22 percent over last September and is up 7.53 percent for the year so far. Hurricane Flourence had an impact on the passenger traffic.

https://www.norfolkairport.com/sites/default/files/September 2018 Media Release.pdf

Edited November 3, 2018 by Urbanlooker

[BFG]

By my math, they've had about 2.7M passengers through the first 3/4 of the year, with two major holiday periods coming up. I think 3.5M is a strong possibility for the year, maybe even closer to 4M, which would be a great selling point for the airport.

[BFG]

Southwest offering nonstop service to Nashville and San Diego, on a seasonal or weekend basis.

https://pilotonline.com/news/local/transportation/article_c9748846-ec3a-11e8-908c-d38876927fc0.html

[Urbanlooker]

WOOHOO!!! Hello West Coast! We have officially made it to the west, now let's keep expanding service. We'll definitely draw in flyers from different areas with this. Start booking your flights ya'll!

[BFG]

October 2018 saw 329K passengers, up 10.5% from October '17. Doing the math, ORF crossed the 3M passenger mark in October. Getting more nonstop destinations should really help them in 2019.

[BFG]

324K in November.

https://www.norfolkairport.com/sites/default/files/November 2018 Media Release.pdf

[Urbanlooker]

So I flew into ORF from DFW on Saturday and I am currently in the TSA security line to fly back so here's my thoughts on the airport as a whole. The security areas are nice and modern seeming and so is the lobby area prior to the security checks. However, the airline check-in area needs a lot of work it seems quite small and set back in time from the rest especially how you have to carry your bags to the x-ray scanners. They need to get more of the full body scanners for the security check. The terminals are nice but small they should definitely be at least another 20 or 30 feet wider not because there's so many people walking but because everytime there is a flight everyone waiting around the gates take up the walking area and heaven forbid there's 2 flights taking off near each other at gates right beside each other.

IMO I think they should definitely find a way to get the parallel runway and maybe even look into a 3rd terminal especially if we keep getting additional carriers and flights.

Edited December 26, 2018 by Urbanlooker

[BFG]

Nonstop service to Cleveland and Cincinnati coming in June (Allegiant). 

https://pilotonline.com/inside-business/news/maritime-and-transportation/article_f0c2ede6-183d-11e9-b52f-27f187079cd6.html

[Willy18]

Sweet! I have zero reason to go to either of those cities but it's a sign of progress.

[BFG]

December saw 321K passengers, the highest December total in ORF history. Overall, about 3.67M flew out of the airport. With more nonstop options, I think 4M is possible.

https://www.norfolkairport.com/sites/default/files/December 2018 Media Release.pdf

[baobabs727]

RIC pass count was up an astounding 17% in NOV...so looks like a banner year for VA airports. I believe that ORF used to have higher annual counts than RIC 20 years ago. We've since fallen behind.

https://flyrichmond.com/ric-traffic-soars-16-9-to-new-november-record/

Edited January 16, 2019 by baobabs727

[BFG]

ORF plans to build a new parking garage, where the current long-term parking lot is. According to the article, this could eventually make room for a new terminal. 

https://pilotonline.com/business/consumer/article_c331c81e-3eaf-11e9-9ba3-cf0c4ef9b2d9.html

[urbanfan]

It will actually be built next to the existing parking garages, where they have already built the 9 story stair and elevator tower attached to arrivals.  All of the long term parking lot will go away leaving it open to expand the current apron and possibly add a third terminal in that area.

[Up2313]

Anyone else catch the part about the 6 million dollars for a couple of moveable walkways? That is insane. Glad they are not putting them back in, people can walk. 

[Urbanlooker]

ORF passenger traffic was up 10.33% in February to  241,720 over February 2018 and up 13.58% so far for the year. 

https://www.norfolkairport.com/sites/default/files/February 2019 Media Release.pdf

[HRVA]

Mayor Alexander stated during the State of the City that ORF will have nonstop service to San Diego starting this summer and is doing a feasibility study on international flights. 

[BFG]

I wonder what needs to be studied. To be able to fly out of ORF across the Atlantic seems like a no-brainer. Right now I think you have to go to DC. 

[virginia pe]

On 4/19/2019 at 8:27 PM, BFG said:

I wonder what needs to be studied. To be able to fly out of ORF across the Atlantic seems like a no-brainer. Right now I think you have to go to DC. 

To be able to offer international flights, they need ICE to agree to man a customs office for incoming flights.  They also need a separate corridor to keep arriving passengers separated from the rest of the airport until they clear passport control and customs.  The airlines need to know that the market it there, and will be there reliably for the long haul.  It is not economically feasible to fly smaller jets across the Atlantic.  They usually fly 767s or 777s.  Can you fill that plane up once a week?  Will Norfolk's runway support a plane that big?  

I suspect the international flights the mayor is proposing are to the Caribbean, not Europe.

[ronsmytheiii]

10 hours ago, virginia pe said:

They also need a separate corridor to keep arriving passengers separated from the rest of the airport until they clear passport control and customs. 

You can use a shuttle system to disembark passengers and send them to a separate area for passport control, they do that here in Europe for a lot of smaller airports (and in Europe, the vast majority of flights are international)

 

{quote]It is not economically feasible to fly smaller jets across the Atlantic.  They usually fly 767s or 777s.[/quote]

Airlines are actually interested in smaller, longe-range aircraft that would fit well in Norfolk. Look up the Airbus A321LR/XLR or the future Boeing NMA/797. Even existing Boeing 757s are being repurposed for international flights, I recently flew back to Dulles from England last October on Iceland Air using two 757s with an aircraft change at Iceland. If Norfolk can shave cost off a flight compared to flights in the beltway, might open up a lot of traffic to ORF.