Baton Rouge Metro Airport

[drew6974]

Frontier Airlines announces special $119 fare from BTR to San Francisco.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articl...412092007-1.htm

[dan326]

Maybe if this is successful they could fly regular flights to there.

[drew6974]

Baton Rouge Metro continues to attract record numbers of passengers.

Counts are expected to be over 1.1 million this year. Landing Frontier Airlines has helped to raised the numbers and has caused the other airlines to lower their costs to flights to the west. Now if we get AirTran and possibly another discount airliner flying to more eastern US destinations the numbers should rise even more.

Passenger counts at Baton Rouge Metro Airport are continuing to soar at a record pace this year, thanks in part to Frontier Airlines starting service in August.

Since then, monthly passenger counts have set new records, and airport officials say 2007 may eclipse the previous benchmarks set in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

By the end of the year, Metro Airport could hit the 1.1 million mark, Airport Marketing Manager Ronnie Pickard said. That would set a new record, up from 1,059,389 last year and 1,035,036 in 2005.

Contrast that to pre-Katrina 2004, when 639,709 passengers boarded or unloaded at Metro Airport.

"Between the (five-month American) Bowling Congress and the hurricanes, it's easy to see why 2005 was a banner year. The month after Katrina hit, we had a 106 percent increase in passengers," Pickard said.

But as it turned out, 2005 wasn't a spike, but the beginning of an upward trend that is continuing today.

Pickard said a major force behind this year's high-flying passenger counts is Frontier Airlines, which began running two flights per day from Baton Rouge to Denver on Aug. 15.

By the end of August, 3,044 passengers had flown in or out of Baton Rouge on Frontier. And in September, its first full month of operation here, Frontier attracted 5,484 passenger.

"And that's just the beginning. When ski season begins, I think you'll really see a spike in Frontier's counts," Pickard said.

Frontier's low-fare competition has prompted American Airlines and Continental Airlines to cut their westward fares out of Metro Airport, in some cases more than 30 percent, he said.

But one of the biggest problems associated with flying out of Metro Airport these days isn't booking a plane, but finding a parking spot.

Pickard said the airport's overflow parking lots are busy from Tuesday through Thursday.

He noted that if the airport hadn't opened a new parking garage about a week before Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005, the problem would be worse.

To help alleviate the parking crunch, the airport is moving ahead with a $19 million plan to build a new five-story parking garage at the end of the Rental Car Center, and build a roof over the top level of the existing parking garage.

Four stories of the proposed new parking garage will be allocated to rental car companies. But that will free up 325 existing parking spaces that now are being used for rental cars on the first floor of the main parking garage next to the terminal.

Pickard said some airport patrons have complained about the lack of a roof on the existing garage's top level, so that has been added to the parking project.

In the meantime, the airport is in the process of providing lighting and fencing around the overflow lots, Pickard said.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/10832421.html

[byrde]

Losing Frontier is bad news.

Frontier Airlines drops Baton Rouge service

[yis2003yis]

Losing Frontier is bad news.

Frontier Airlines drops Baton Rouge service

Maybe im reading wrong.... but he said they had good business with people from Baton Rouge goin to denver

but nobody from denver was flying to Baton Rouge

what we need to do is...get something going for the city....like Major events and other things that will attract people to the city......we can't keep letting Blue Bayou carry all the weight as far as getting people from out of town to visit....we need more.....another franchised theme park would help...because it would have more of a name then blue bayou....we need to try to get some of these famous arists to come to the river center..not these clubs...the reason i say that is because everybody don't go to clubs...the shopping is comming along good...but they will need to put more affordable shopping down here too...or we will only bring in crowds of rich people...and we loosing out on the crowds for the average income people...so if we get more expensive and average retailers we'll be doing great with bringing more people in our shopping districts...like it or not ....downtown needs to be more active with the public.....our problem with the locals is....we don't Advertise Enough.....when jazz fest is comming to new orleans...they rammmmm it into your brain so you know...when we have events...we advertise like 3 or 4 commericals and thats it...thats what baton rouge needs to do...advertise advertise advertise

[yis2003yis]

Maybe im reading wrong.... but he said they had good business with people from Baton Rouge goin to denver

but nobody from denver was flying to Baton Rouge

what we need to do is...get something going for the city....like Major events and other things that will attract people to the city......we can't keep letting Blue Bayou carry all the weight as far as getting people from out of town to visit....we need more.....another franchised theme park would help...because it would have more of a name then blue bayou....we need to try to get some of these famous arists to come to the river center..not these clubs...the reason i say that is because everybody don't go to clubs...the shopping is comming along good...but they will need to put more affordable shopping down here too...or we will only bring in crowds of rich people...and we loosing out on the crowds for the average income people...so if we get more expensive and average retailers we'll be doing great with bringing more people in our shopping districts...like it or not ....downtown needs to be more active with the public.....our problem with the locals is....we don't Advertise Enough.....when jazz fest is comming to new orleans...they rammmmm it into your brain so you know...when we have events...we advertise like 3 or 4 commericals and thats it...thats what baton rouge needs to do...advertise advertise advertise

[byrde]

Maybe im reading wrong.... but he said they had good business with people from Baton Rouge goin to denver

but nobody from denver was flying to Baton Rouge

What they are saying is, the flights between BTR and Denver were full, but the people from BTR were making Denver their final destination. Frontier needs the BTR travelers to use Frontier to make connecting flights to other cities from Denver. We were flying to Denver and then going to the mountains in Colorado and then coming home. They were hoping we'd use Frontier to get to places like Seattle, San Diego, San Fran, Salt Lake City, Vegas, etc. The discount airlines make their money on connecting flights. I used Frontier once and that was for a trip to Phoenix.

[yis2003yis]

What they are saying is, the flights between BTR and Denver were full, but the people from BTR were making Denver their final destination. Frontier needs the BTR travelers to use Frontier to make connecting flights to other cities from Denver. We were flying to Denver and then going to the mountains in Colorado and then coming home. They were hoping we'd use Frontier to get to places like Seattle, San Diego, San Fran, Salt Lake City, Vegas, etc. The discount airlines make their money on connecting flights. I used Frontier once and that was for a trip to Phoenix.

ohhhhh ok i got cha....i hope they decide to stay

[cajun]

Maybe im reading wrong.... but he said they had good business with people from Baton Rouge goin to denver

but nobody from denver was flying to Baton Rouge

The problem is that the destination of people in Baton Rouge WAS Denver. They were not going to other places like the west coast or Phoenix....and Baton Rouge didn't add any other business to the hub: Denver.

Plenty were flying back and forth to BR and Denver.

I think the CEO of Pan Am once said: There has been no single net dollar made in the airline industry (keep in mind, he's talking about flying them, not building them).

Pan Am is also out of business along with TWA and soon Delta.

[dan326]

They're expanding the atrium!

"A wing and a prayer

With the airline industry in a nosedive and ticket prices climbing, what

[cajun]

They're expanding the atrium!

"A wing and a prayer

With the airline industry in a nosedive and ticket prices climbing, what's a Southern capital city's mid-sized airport to do? If you're Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, you get ready for more customers.

Consolidation means fewer planes in the air, fewer seats, higher demand and higher ticket prices, which might mean fewer customers. Nevertheless, Metro Airport has several projects under way or in the planning stages, including a new parking garage and an expansion of the 5-year-old terminal building."

http://www.businessreport.com/news/2008/ma...ing-and-prayer/

More parking is always good....but I always thought of Baton Rouge (and New Orleans) airport as being as close to perfect as possible. I hate big airports like Atlanta or Dallas.

It's layout is easy, the whole place is very clean, baggage claim is a snap, and there really isn't that many people around. I guess my complaints are more with the airline than the airport. Even the fares are relatively cheap because it's mostly connector flights to Atlanta, Houston, Dallas (which I often take), Chicago....I think the only direct flights are to Washington DC and Jacksonville. Those connector flights are cheap.

I wonder what they want to do with the terminal building....more parking is always good.

Edited June 4, 2008 by cajun

[dan326]

It says in the article that they are going to make the atrium looking out on the runway bigger and move the ticket counters so nonpassengers can hang out in the atrium. I pretty sure it said they were going to build the bigger atrium onto the exisiting structure so that when the take down the existing piecie it won't have to be closed to the public.

Edit:"Whatever it ends up costing, the result will be a relocated security check-in area, opposite the atrium where it is now. A new glass wall facing the runways will be built beyond the diameter of the existing one, which will be cut out overnight to guarantee no interruption in service."

Edited June 4, 2008 by dan326

[dan326]

It seems like Frontier left some kind of bad luck omen, as our Washington flights have been eliminated and now the Chicago flights.

" American eliminating B.R.-Chicago flights, trimming Dallas flights

American Airlines will eliminate its daily flights from Baton Rouge to Chicago after Sept. 3. The company announced Wednesday it was dropping daily flights to Chicago O

[richyb83]

This looks like a disturbing trend nation-wide for airports BR's size; With the outrageous fuel price$ being the main reason.

[tombarnes]

It is a disturbing trend indeed. I also noticed that the Jackson/Gulfport flights were being cut. Take heart, though. The otherwise booming airport in Fort Lauderdale is losing all service from United this fall. Not that I will particularly miss United....

[cajun]

The airlines are full of crap. It's not about fuel prices. It's about earning extra money.

It cost less (about half as much) to fly from Charlotte to Baton Rouge than it does to fly from Atlanta to Baton Rouge....the sad part is that it's the same airline on the same day and the Charlotte flight has a stop in Atlanta.

And of course, Amtrak doesn't offer any decent departure times....I guess crummy options are what you get when the government subsidizes a company. They don't have to be competitive if Uncle Sam is picking up the tab.

[drew6974]

This ought to be a great event for families and history buffs.

AIR IT UP!

AUGUST 16

[richyb83]

Hopefully the 60% chance of rain won't spoil the activities; esp the flyovers from the B-52's!

[richyb83]

BR wants in on air wars

Baton Rouge Metro Airport is losing thousands of travelers to the New Orleans airport, where travelers often find cheaper fares and more nonstop flights, a local airport official said. That’s a situation Baton Rouge Metro Airport Commission Chairman Jim Ellis said he would like to change, starting with a task force that could “shake things up” and address competition and development to provide more choices for local airport passengers.

“You have people who are flying to New Orleans and renting a car to hold a business meeting in Baton Rouge because it’s too expensive” to fly here,

Metro Airport reports 718,669 inbound and outbound passengers in 2009. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport passengers both inbound and outbound numbered 7,781,678 that year. Baton Rouge has four major airline carriers and no low-cost carrier. New Orleans offers 10 carriers, both low-cost and major.

“We don’t try to compete with Baton Rouge and we don’t attempt to take passengers from there,” said New Orleans airport spokeswoman

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/83613412.html

[richyb83]

U.S. Airways returns to Baton Rouge

U.S. Airways and Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden announced Tuesday the airline is coming back to the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport. Officials said U.S. Airways will have three daily nonstop flights between Baton Rouge and its largest hub in Charlotte, N.C.

"We are pleased to give our customers the option to fly directly to Baton Rouge -- the capital and second-largest city in Louisiana," said Jason Reisinger, US Airways director of express planning. "Once launched, customers traveling from Baton Rouge will be able to connect to one of 128 domestic and international destinations through our Charlotte hub."

U.S. Airways will officially return to Baton Rouge on June 24. The airline left the metro airport seven years ago.

"This is a tremendous boost for Baton Rouge," Holden said. "We are looking forward to the new partnership with a great airline. This helps us from an economic development standpoint, and it also benefits families seeking more choices in air travel."

http://www.wafb.com/global/story.asp?s=12197141

[dan326]

^ That's great! I hope we'll get more flights.

[richyb83]

My bad...posted in wrong thread first time...

Looks like BR really is trying to develop it's own mini- aerotropolis

Airport seeks rezoning to enable growth

Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport is set to go before the city-parish Planning Commission Monday to get a rezoning for the 1,734-acre facility. Airport officials are seeking to rezone the entire complex as a planned unit development, which will give them more flexibility to grow. Anthony Marino, director of aviation at Metro Airport, describes the rezoning as "housekeeping." The airport acreage has a jumble of different zonings, including a commercial designation that is no longer being used in East Baton Rouge. Zoned as a PUD, the airport will have greater flexibility to attract tenants. "It minimizes the work somebody who wants to develop something will have to do," says Marino. The Planning Commission staff has recommended the rezoning.

http://www.businessreport.com/archives/daily-report/latest/

[dan326]

Great find!!

[richyb83]

Proposed 44,000 sq ft to be built on the planned 300-acre Aviation Business Park north of BR Metro Airport; to serve as a Public Safety Multiplex able to support emergency avaition operations during natural disasters & other emergency situations.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/Disaster-center-takes-off.html

[Antrell Williams]

Hey, its better than nothing..