RDU International Airport

[ChiefJoJo]

N&O's take:

The Wisconsin-based carrier announced Thursday that it will begin three daily nonstop round trips between its hub in Milwaukee and RDU on June 1.

Airlines plan to add 24 departures by summer. It's the biggest flight expansion at RDU in years. The activity demonstrates the Triangle's economic health, as airlines, which had delayed expansions, choose where to add flights now that they're earning profits, aviation experts and RDU officials said.

"You've got to produce the best returns and, clearly, RDU is relatively high in the food chain," said George Hamlin, president of Hamlin Transportation, a consultant in Fairfax, Va. "An airline takes a business risk when it starts new service. They believe the market is strong."

According to BACK Aviation Solutions, a New Haven, Conn., consulting firm, airlines added seats four times faster at RDU than nationally over the past year. The numbers of available seats at RDU has gone up 8.3 percent since third quarter 2006, compared to a 2.1 percent increase in the U.S.

Expansions at RDU include 13 daily round trips by Texas-startup ExpressJet to San Antonio, Texas; Kansas City; Birmingham, Ala.; Louisville, Ky.; New Orleans and Jacksonville, Fla., by mid-June. United Airlines will begin a round-trip nonstop to Denver from RDU on April 24.

Good news. When we acheive several new non-stop destinations, I think it sends a great message about this market's viability to support that traffic, but it should be tempered a bit...

I flew the reltively new non-stop Delta flight to LA this past Jan, but was caught by surprise when they had eliminated the Tuesday red-eye return trip (had to go thru ATL ). I really hope we can support flights like the Denver and the LA flight, and maybe pick up the old Midway flight to the Bay Area too (I flew that one to San Jose back in 2000).

[RDUairport]

LAX and DEN are here to stay. There are too many peope that fly these routes and since both are/will be flown with the correct size equipment I wouldn't count on either one of these fly being dropped. SFO will be on the way in the future, if not this year I would think next year. I think SFO will be chosen over SJC.

[RALNATIVE]

SFO will be on the way in the future, if not this year I would think next year. I think SFO will be chosen over SJC.

I hope so. Many people travel this route daily. Hopefully RDU will one day become a hub again.

[DanRNC]

The RTRP has got all the flights they have pushed for except the Bay area routes-I have a feeling we will see this in the next year or so.

[capitalcity]

I hope so. Many people travel this route daily. Hopefully RDU will one day become a hub again.

As great as a hub is for a city, I think that RDU should keep it status as is. Ticket prices will remain relatively cheap.

[RDUairport]

Sorta to piggyback off what captialcity said hubs are awesome ... ( three DC-10s departing at the same time from RDU back in the AA hub day...) but I don't except to ever see a working hub system at RDU again. RDU is a focus city for AA which is why they still have such a large operation (67 flights a day). I really enjoy having a focus city because AA will keep a good amount of flights and bring in larger planes i.e. the 777 for Gatwick. The fact that we don't have a full scale hub system at RDU has allowed prices to drop to a nice amount and also allows other airlines to build up. Overall, I too miss the hub days of RDU but I enjoy being an AA focus city while having all the other airlines as well and is probably one of the best situtation we could have.

[pack-man]

where did AA move their hub when they left RDU? I seem to recall talks of Greensboro.

[carynative]

I think it was Miami.. If I remember correctly, RDU was designed to become a major hub for flights in/out of the carribean and South America. It never got to that point though, for whatever reason. I think we only ended up with international flights to London and Paris. They moved before the other destinations came on board.

[RALNATIVE]

As great as a hub is for a city, I think that RDU should keep it status as is. Ticket prices will remain relatively cheap.

Having an airline hub at an airport does not raise prices, the lack of competitive pricing does (i.e. no low-fare carriers). CLT is a perfect example of this.

I know that many people think that having a hub is not a big deal, but I tend to disagree. I've heard tons of people commenting about the beauty of this area as they are landing into RDU. Having a hub would be advertising that Raleigh coudn't place a value on, not to mention that most major companies look to hub cities extremely favorably when deciding where to expand.

[RDUairport]

Eastern fell through and their MIA hub was up for grabs and its was a better location for AA's operations into the Carribean and South American than RDU. RDU was made to be a north/south hub connecting traffic up and down the eastern seaboard and to a lesser extent the Carribean, however when AA opened up their hub at MIA their was no longer the strong need for RDU as planes could bypass RDU straight to florida.

You will not see a hub survive at RDU because the competition from other airlines is too high. Having the big three low cost carriers at RDU pretty much ends that argument.

Continental Airlines had a regional airline called Continental Lite which had a "hub" at GSO but did not work out at all and closed as well.

[capitalapts]

I flew the reltively new non-stop Delta flight to LA this past Jan, but was caught by surprise when they had eliminated the Tuesday red-eye return trip (had to go thru ATL ). I really hope we can support flights like the Denver and the LA flight, and maybe pick up the old Midway flight to the Bay Area too (I flew that one to San Jose back in 2000).

That RDU-LAX flight is key. It gets in at the perfect time at LAX and you don't really even have to take much off work early to fly it from here. Are all the redeye returns eliminated or just certain weekdays?

[RDUairport]

The airlines will change the schedules around a little bit from summer to winter as expected. Up till March 1st the RDU-LAX flight did not fly on Mondays and Saturdays. Effective as of March 2nd the flight is back to the regular schedule where it does not fly on Saturdays only. So Right now its Sunday through Friday as it started. The flight is still "ok", no worries. RDUs need for west coast nonstop destinations will only increase from here on out. These routes should have a secure future.

[Tayfromcarolina]

I wonder how long it will be before we see another International Carrier such as Lufthansa airlines out of Germany or one of the Carribbean airlines?

[pack-man]

i would imagine there is a better chance of seeing a carribbean carrier before a big euro one. the more people move here, the more need for direct flights to carribbean islands is necessary. I recently travelled to the carribbean and had to go through 3 different airports to get to the one that was going to. with the new international checkpoints in the new terminal, i would imagine these airlines starting to come into RDU.

[ChiefJoJo]

That RDU-LAX flight is key. It gets in at the perfect time at LAX and you don't really even have to take much off work early to fly it from here. Are all the redeye returns eliminated or just certain weekdays?

The airlines will change the schedules around a little bit from summer to winter as expected. Up till March 1st the RDU-LAX flight did not fly on Mondays and Saturdays. Effective as of March 2nd the flight is back to the regular schedule where it does not fly on Saturdays only. So Right now its Sunday through Friday as it started. The flight is still "ok", no worries. RDUs need for west coast nonstop destinations will only increase from here on out. These routes should have a secure future.

You can add Tuesday nights to the list, in Jan anyway. I left RDU on a Wednesday night (EST) from RDU to LAX, then when I arrived at LAX on the following Tuesday night (PST) for my return flight, the agent said the schedule had been changed... "You should have received an email," she said. I was tired and ready to go home and they sent me thru ATL when the only reason I chose this flight was for the non-stop. Only after a few drinks was I able to calm down. The two guys sitting behind me (and likely many more) were in the same boat.

The moral for these new non-stop flights is buyer beware. They might just decide to yank the flight at the last minute.

[RDUairport]

The no Mondays and Friday flights probably was not in affect in Jan. because its been more recently for this, however I wonder if there was any reason unforesen that contributed to your flight being cut that night... I find it hard to see an airline checking passengers in for a flight that isn't scheduled to fly that day.. (In no way am I arguing against your story at all) but maybe it was due to equipment problem or lack of equipment that day. Either way if they checked you in for a flight that was not scheduled to run that day I would call customer service with Delta and explain the deal. You might be able to get some compensation for your trouble. If thats the case its a lack of consideration for the passenger, which Delta can not really afford right now.. I wonder where the break down was in the communication/information that night..

[RALNATIVE]

SFO will be on the way in the future, if not this year I would think next year. I think SFO will be chosen over SJC.

The TBJ ran an article today indicating that Virgin America has received preliminary approval by the DOT to start flying. This airline is based in the SFO area, and has listed RDU as one of it's 40 desired destinations.

Virgin America cleared for takeoff

If it happens, this would be excellent news for RDU. Look for an announcement sooner rather than later. A low cost airline backed by very deep pockets is never a bad thing.

Edited March 21, 2007 by RALNATIVE

[DanRNC]

This would be a nice addition. I have always supported having foreign airlines (although in this case they have to shift management to make this a US run venture) offer domestic flights as our carriers are an absolute disgrace. Compare a flight on Lufthansa, Swiss Air, Air France, or even Taca compared to US Air, Delta, AA-we seem like a 3rd world country in comparison. A half-an-hour flight on Air France consisted of a poached salmon lunch with a bottle of wine. Taca provided a full dinner with cocktails for a 3 hour flight. A 6-hour AA flight will get you a bag of pretzels and a cup of water.

[RALNATIVE]

Compare a flight on Lufthansa, Swiss Air, Air France, or even Taca compared to US Air, Delta, AA-we seem like a 3rd world country in comparison.

I totally agree. All of the European airlines that I have flown (to/from European cities)--- Lufthansa, Austrian Air, and KLM--have all had better service and better food/beverages.

Unfortunately, I think that US regulators want this airline to operate more like the American model.

[Subway Scoundrel]

RDUs need for west coast nonstop destinations will only increase from here on out. These routes should have a secure future.

San Jose, San Jose, San Jose !!!! I would like to know how many people fly between the 2 cities today. I do it quite often and I know others that do it.

[Subway Scoundrel]

VA just made a big step. Raleigh is on their radar although more likely 2nd tier.

Virgin Atlantic

I am still waiting for Frontier to make it to Raleigh. And then maybe Spirit

[Subway Scoundrel]

I totally agree. All of the European airlines that I have flown (to/from European cities)--- Lufthansa, Austrian Air, and KLM--have all had better service and better food/beverages.

Unfortunately, I think that US regulators want this airline to operate more like the American model.

Nothing like rolling into Schiphol airport in Amsterdam around 7:00 am local time after an all night flight, get a Cappuccino at the DeliFrance while some drunk Russian next to you gets a Heineken going the opposite way, and getting on a Czech airlines flight to Prague and they serve beer with breakfast and you don

Edited March 21, 2007 by Subway Scoundrel

[urbanvb]

The link is not working on my end.

[DwnTwnRaleighGuy]

The link is not working on my end.

Mine either?

[Subway Scoundrel]

Mine either?

Maybe I am not good at hiding this.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6474249.stm