Metro Orlando Airport News

[GRS328]

I've never had the privilege to fly international, so I'm hoping someone can clear this up for me. While Orlando sees throngs of international travelers, most don't fly directly into Orlando. My question is, do international travelers go through the whole international, customs process, etc. at the initial U.S. airport they stop at, and then fly on to Orlando on what would essentially be a "domestic" flight? Or do these travelers go through the customs process at the ultimate destination airport, in our case MCO?

[bic]

Whenever you fly internationally, you go through customs/passport control upon your first entry into the new country. If you have a continuing flight within the country, it is a regular domestic flight.

So yes, international passengers who travel to Orlando via other U.S. cities will experience customs in those other cities before getting to Orlando.

The exception would be if say you were flying from Sydney to New York via Los Angeles. During the stop in LAX, you might not be permitted to deplane, in which case you would clear customs in JFK.

[corpkid]

That does sound pretty bad. I went a few months ago and flew through JFK which might be slightly more convenient but makes up for it by being nasty and old. The customs area (this was a Delta flight) was in the basement where nothing worked and the bathrooms looked like a nightclub after a rave. Then, got up to the actual terminal which didn't seem that bad on the way out, but with more time on the way back I noticed the birds (yes birds) flying around inside the building and the general nastiness of the place. All the employees looked like they were on drugs (hey that's fine on the street, but in an airport?). If they had half as many janitors as they had TSA officals in ill fitting suits the place might be a little nicer.

LOL - "the bathrooms looked like a nightclub after a rave" -- I have flown JFK so many times outta the country when I lived in NYC for my work and could not agree more! What a major POS that airport is, domestic, international, whatever. It just sucks!. That damn airport was at least a 50% driver of my decision to move to Orlando (why does everyone hate MCO, BTW)? Domestically, MCO very good airport (and I've been to plenty (I used to fly every week to somewhere "new")) Though, see above, international needs lots of work!

[JRS1]

Whenever you fly internationally, you go through customs/passport control upon your first entry into the new country. If you have a continuing flight within the country, it is a regular domestic flight.

So yes, international passengers who travel to Orlando via other U.S. cities will experience customs in those other cities before getting to Orlando.

The exception would be if say you were flying from Sydney to New York via Los Angeles. During the stop in LAX, you might not be permitted to deplane, in which case you would clear customs in JFK.

try Memphis' outdated terminal on for size. I flew NW to JFK to Amsterdam, but flew back via Memphis. was in customs there for like 1 hour.

Amsterdam customs lasted for, like, the amount of time it took me to walk past the security checkpoint which was unmanned, btw.

MCO can't possibly be as bad as memphis, can it?

[GRS328]

Whenever you fly internationally, you go through customs/passport control upon your first entry into the new country. If you have a continuing flight within the country, it is a regular domestic flight.

So yes, international passengers who travel to Orlando via other U.S. cities will experience customs in those other cities before getting to Orlando.

The exception would be if say you were flying from Sydney to New York via Los Angeles. During the stop in LAX, you might not be permitted to deplane, in which case you would clear customs in JFK.

Got it. So that ties into Camillo's point about MCO/GOAA being at the mercy of the "signatory" airlines. While MCO draws many international travelers, many, if not the majority, go through customs elsewhere before flying onto MCO. That might explain why there is a lack of interest on the part of local leaders to push for any sort of international terminal, or improved international proceedings at the very least.

[Camillo Sitte]

That might explain why there is a lack of interest on the part of local leaders to push for any sort of international terminal, or improved international proceedings at the very least.

No, just a simple lack of vision IMHO.

[JRS1]

No, just a simple lack of vision IMHO.

if true, that would be a great paradox. they have the vision for so much else re the airport, yet don't have the vision for that.

[WeNeed2Progress]

Most foreign travelers coming in on foreign carriers don't go through Orlando. That's simply because it is not an effective destination for them. They can't go beyond their destination (another words, they can't fly from Orlando to say Denver). So either the airline wants to land where they have a good tie-up with a domestic carrier (another words, a hub) or a big destination point. Orlando isn't huge for some of the major national carriers, but it certainly is quite attractive to some of the smaller low cost carriers. Unfortunately, those guys aren't as attractive to airports as they don't bring in huge revenue - the planes are small but they are infrequent. What might be interesting though would be if one of these foreign carriers linked with someone like Jet blue or Airtran.

While I understand it is not what is in the planners real interest right now, I do think improved international handling might be a good idea, for domestic carriers. Orlando would be a nice destination for an airline like Delta, as they could get they benefits of direct flights from many European destinations to Orlando for the tourist trade, and still connect to other cities through Orlando.

... and best of all, not have to use ATL as an international hub. Ugh. Though I must admit, that airport is improving.

[sunshine]

Glimmer of hope for JetBlue 'hotel' at OIA

posted by Jason Garcia on Aug 7, 2007 8:54:22 AM

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/business_...er-of-hope.html

[bic]

Word on the street is that jetBlue will be making a significant announcement in October and it will likely include making MCO a hub/base/focus city.

[sunshine]

Orlando as a hub?

Is Jetblue going south america? Orlando is not really in the middle of any routes to be a hub for domestic line.

[bic]

jetBlue is not going international outside of North America anytime soon, so becoming a hub/base would basically mean connecting the dots between the airline's existing cities, especially those on the west coast.

jetBlue and Aer Lingus recently formed an alliance which becomes a little more interesting now that Aer Lingus is about to begin flying from MCO non-stop to Glasgow next month.

[Go Gators]

jetBlue is not going international outside of North America anytime soon, so becoming a hub/base would basically mean connecting the dots between the airline's existing cities, especially those on the west coast.

jetBlue and Aer Lingus recently formed an alliance which becomes a little more interesting now that Aer Lingus is about to begin flying from MCO non-stop to Glasgow next month.

They fly the Caribbean, or are you considering that N. America in this case?

[bic]

Yeah, I said North America because jetBlue already flies to the Caribbean, Mexico, and Bermuda...and possibly Canada (Toronto) in the not-too-distant future.

Edited September 17, 2007 by bic

[JRS1]

Yeah, I said North America because jetBlue already flies to the Caribbean, Mexico, and Bermuda...and possibly Canada (Toronto) in the not-too-distant future.

maybe it will become a hub that will integrate Aer Lingus and any other partner airlines...

[bic]

maybe it will become a hub that will integrate Aer Lingus and any other partner airlines...

On second thought, I think "hub" might have been the wrong term to use. Because of its location in jetBlue's route network, MCO would not be a hub in the traditional sense of having a lot of connecting flights. It would link cities to the north and west to the Caribbean but it would mostly host a lot of origin and destination travel..."connecting the dots" as I mentioned before.

I'd expect to at least see new flights to Oakland and Long Beach and possibly a couple of more Caribbean destinations.

[sunshine]

It would be nice if they start South America route and choose Orlando as a connecting hub instead of Miami. Then we will have to construct an international terminal.

[bic]

It would be nice if they start South America route and choose Orlando as a connecting hub instead of Miami. Then we will have to construct an international terminal.

Not happening.

[Go Gators]

Yeah, I said North America because jetBlue already flies to the Caribbean, Mexico, and Bermuda...and possibly Canada (Toronto) in the not-too-distant future.

I see, makes sense.

[sunshine]

Go gator, can u reduce the size of your signature statement to a normal scale please? Thanks.

[Go Gators]

Go gator, can u reduce the size of your signature statement to a normal scale please? Thanks.

It is. Thanks.

[Camillo Sitte]

jetBlue and Aer Lingus recently formed an alliance which becomes a little more interesting now that Aer Lingus is about to begin flying from MCO non-stop to Glasgow next month.

Aer Lingus [EI] will be flying non-stop between Orlando [MCO] and Dublin, Ireland [DUB], not Glasgow, beginning October 27 using an Airbus A330.

Virgin Atlantic [VS] will be flying non-stop between Orlando [MCO] and Glasgow, Scotland U.K. [GLA] on October 20 using a Boeing 747-400.

When jetBlue announced their initial purchase of 100 Embraer E190 small jets in 2005 they indicated that in addition to their maintenance facilities and crew bases here - and the potential for relocating all of their training facilities here as well [jetBlueU] a number of these smaller jets would be used to connect cities in Florida [along with their flights to Puerto Rico] through a "mini-hub" or focus city at MCO in order to feed an expanded mainline schedule out of Orlando.

[bic]

Aer Lingus [EI] will be flying non-stop between Orlando [MCO] and Dublin, Ireland [DUB], not Glasgow, beginning October 27 using an Airbus A330.

Virgin Atlantic [VS] will be flying non-stop between Orlando [MCO] and Glasgow, Scotland U.K. [GLA] on October 20 using a Boeing 747-400.

Oops..I should have proofread that. Yes, I meant the cunning Lingus would be flying to Ireland (duh) and not Scotland.

[JRS1]

^^

so, now Virgin's routes from MCO will now be to London-Gatwick and Glasgow, Scotland...right?

[gibby]

^^

so, now Virgin's routes from MCO will now be to London-Gatwick and Glasgow, Scotland...right?

I think they do Manchester also and Glasgow might just be seasonal.