Non-stop service between RDU and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver top the list of priority destinations identified as targets for expanded air service, according to a recently completed study by the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority. The study is supported by the Research Triangle Foundation and the Research Triangle Regional Partnership (RTRP).
Strong air service emerged as the No. 1 priority of CEOs who served on the regional task force that created the region's economic development strategy, called "Staying on Top: Winning the Job Wars of the Future." The five-year plan spells out 30 strategies designed to create 100,000 new jobs in the region and boost in employment in all 13 counties. Expanded air service to key markets is among those strategies.
The Authority pursues air carrier diversification along with targeted route development, says RDU Marketing Director Teresa Damiano. Since 1994, seven new carriers have established themselves in the RDU market. They are: Air Canada, Air Tran, America West, Continental, Independence Air, Northwest and Southwest.
"In recent years the rate of traffic growth to certain cities has been greater to destinations west of the Mississippi," Damiano says. Nearly 380,000 people travel between the RDU and Los Angeles region each year, and the San Francisco Bay area generates 255,500 passengers a year. Denver is the largest single airport market with no non-stop service generating 167,900 annual passengers.
While service to the west is significant, traffic between RDU and destinations in the Northeast, Midatlantic, Midwest and Southeast continue to be the most heavily traveled markets. More than one million people a year travel between the RDU region and the New York region; nearly 700,000 travel between RDU and Atlanta, and approximately 500,000 between either Boston, Chicago, Washington or the South Florida airports.
The Authority's goal in air service development is to reduce the time to travel to a destination or reduce the cost of travel. That may mean introducing new routes, increasing frequencies or better scheduling alignment for connections. With more competitive options, cost is improved or contained.
The study analyzed passenger traffic between RDU and destinations with sufficient volume to support a mainline or regional jet operation along with growth rates, fares and other competitive issues. The economic synergies between the RDU region and the desired destination plays a key factor in convincing airlines to provide a route, said Damiano, explaining that aspect often lends insight into the statistics. All of this information along with detailed route case studies are presented to airlines for their consideration, she said.
Other key targets for domestic route expansion include San Diego, Seattle, Kansas City, Manch
ester, N.H., and San Antonio.
Each of these markets has sufficient traffic to support mainline jet service, has strong growth rates and has economic ties to the RDU region in one or more of the following industries: biosciences, research and development, genomics, informatics, nanotechnology, computing sciences, telecommunications or agri-business.
Other domestic markets with sufficient traffic that could support regional jet service are Albany, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Milwaukee, Islip, West Palm Beach and Louisville.
International market activity between RDU and the following world regions and sub-regions were examined Transatlantic (Europe, Africa, Middle East); Latin America (Central America, Caribbean, South America); Transpacific (Far East, Australasia/Oceania); and Canada.
In addition to maintaining the success of the daily, RDU-London Gatwick flight, a second Transatlantic flight to Frankfurt, Germany is targeted for development in the short-term (five or more years).
Cancun is the only Latin America destination in the Central America region that could support charter service as a leisure destination; and Nassau and Freeport are the leading Caribbean markets that could support charter service.
In Canada, Montreal is a potential second Canadian destination (Air Canada currently serves Toronto).
The next step is to develop more detailed route case studies for the targeted airlines and present them at corporate headquarters. Economic developers and corporate leaders from the Research Triangle Region will be called upon to align their company's travel needs and practices with the route-development efforts.
Domestic route development can take two to five years while international route development can take five to seven years. During the process, many things can influence what otherwise may be a solid business case, including economics, epidemics, wars, airline industry acquisitions, mergers, bankruptcies, fuel prices, airline
competition, and the availability of aircraft resources.
Barry Clark of Clark and Associates LLC of Dallas, Texas, performed the air service study for the Authority. |
