Direct flights to LAX again??

[fieldafm]

How empty were they?

Not stellar.  At the time, Delta's break even was around 68-70% for a such a flight(it's a long route= $$fuel costs$$).  It was not shocking at all when they cancelled the route. 

PTP demand is pretty low for most any flight.  The number of flights in/out of JIA has less to do with business climate and more to do with the fact that it has relatively low codeshare business and is not a regional hub.  The fill rate is pretty high for connecting flights, something like 70ish% of flights originate from a fill, so in order to really get more flights out of JIA they will have to become a hub for a regional carrier(which would also increase codeshare volume).

For referance, there aren't direct or non-stop flights from LAX to Tampa either.
 

[Adam W]

This is great news. That means all the Jaguars fans will be able to get to home games!

Edit: in case you can't tell, I am joking.

[Ocklawaha]

   
Jacksonville International Airport Posts Uptick in Passenger Traffic
JAA Issues Tips for Air Travelers as Busy Thanksgiving Travel Season Nears

JACKSONVILLE, November 22, 2010 â€"The Jacksonville Aviation Authority today announced that October passenger traffic at Jacksonville International Airport (JAX) was up for the second consecutive month.

During the month of October, JAX recorded a total of 483,403 passengers, a slight increase over the 476,984 passengers in October 2009. In September this year, the passenger count inched up 2.85% over the same month last year.

“The back-to-back monthly passenger gains at JAX are encouraging signs that the commercial aviation industry continues to show improvement,” said JAA Executive Director/CEO Steve Grossman. “These positive indicators coupled with our recent announcements of increased flight schedules from JetBlue, Southwest and Delta all bode well for the coming year.”

JetBlue announced service from Jacksonville to San Juan, Puerto Rico, while Delta Air Lines announced added flights from Jacksonville to Miami and Southwest announced a new non-stop flight from Jacksonville to Denver.

Meanwhile, JAA officials suggest travelers departing JAX this busy Thanksgiving holiday season should plan to arrive at the airport at least 1½ hours before their scheduled departure time. JAA has also introduced lower parking rates for the Special Events Economy 3 Lot during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Travelers are encouraged to call their airlines for flight information. Travelers can also get information about the airport and flights at JAA’s new, enhanced website at www.flyjacksonville.com.


LAY THIS BESIDE FORT LAUDERDALE-HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

For information about passenger security screening and restricted carryon items, visit the TSA website at www.tsa.gov.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
January 2012 Traffic Recap



Total traffic for January 2012 was 2,042,122, down 1.2% compared to January 2011. Domestic
traffic was up slightly, .5% and international traffic was down 9.8%. Spirit’s international capacity
was down 18.2% and had a significant impact in overall international activity.

January commercial operations totaled 20,000, down 2.4%. General Aviation totaled 3,871, also
down 2.4%. Total aircraft movements for the period were 23,871, down 2.4% over last year.

Airlines leading the way in traffic growth were:
Virgin +37.3%
Continental +14.1%
American +13.7%
JetBlue +12.3%

Carriers on the negative side included:
Spirit -12.4%
AirTran -9.4%
Southwest -6.2%
Delta down -5.4%

Traffic for February should show a slight improvement due to the addition of February 29th.
However, overall traffic will continue to improve with the addition of new service by several
carriers:

JetBlue to Kingston, Jamaica in April and Bogota, Colombia in May
Spirit to Denver starting in May
Air Tran to San Juan, Puerto Rico in May
A new airline for us, Alaska Airlines will begin service to Seattle in July

The outlook for 2012 remains optimistic. The addition of the new service mentioned above will
have a positive impact on overall capacity.
Month % Change
Feb 2.2%
Mar 1.4%
Apr -1.3%
May 0.0%
Jun 1.8%
Jul 1.9%


Two wild cards that could affect traffic growth are the price of fuel and Spirit’s commitment to
return capacity to FLL by mid-year. Spirit’s addition of Denver service and future schedules
indicate that they will begin to add capacity gradually over the next few months. Regarding the
price of fuel, jet fuel is presently $3.33 per gallon, up 9.2% over the same time last year. Several
carriers have added a fuel surcharge to the price of their tickets.





January market share data for the top 10 carriers are listed below.

Spirit 357,980 17.5%
JetBlue 350,484 17.2%
Southwest 311,526 15.3%
Delta 254,482 12.5%
US Airways 158,367 7.8%
Continental 139,473 6.8%
American 116,977 5.7%
AirTran 92,302 4.5%
Air Canada 65,622 3.2%
Virgin 40,392 2.0%

[wsansewjs]

^ that insular attitude is what has hurt Jacksonville for decades.....reaching out to other areas and bringing people here will make our city and region better!

It is good to have "insular" attitude like I "possess" it because I wanted to ensure that Jacksonville has everything as possibly as it can to be set as a "MUST-VISIT" city before we even ask any innovative ideas / solutions that like this direct flight to Jacksonville from anywhere.

If you don't have any hot dogs in your business, and then advertise your business in selling hot dogs, you just shot yourself in the foot. This is exactly what the Mayor is doing. We need to make and bring more hot dogs before we even promote the notion that we are selling hot dogs metaphorically-speaking.

And for your information, I haven't been around Jacksonville even for decades, only 9 years. There are simple, common sense solutions we can DO in this very city in order to make it thrive. This would allow the city to be very appealing to others, then the attitude will change eventually.

-Josh

[ben says]

Anyone taken the JetBlue to Puerto Rico out of JAX yet? Wonder if that one is getting filled up...

[Ocklawaha]

Anyone taken the JetBlue to Puerto Rico out of JAX yet? Wonder if that one is getting filled up...

The lakelander might have, but I'm not sure. I personally think if we want to sell the 'International' part of the airport, we need to look at British Airways to London, continuing on to Tampa (their res. center is in Jax). The other city that comes to mind INSTANTLY is Panama City, Panama... which has become the 'Chicago-Atlanta' of Latin America. COPA fly's the 737's which are not huge, and in Panama City you can literally connect to the entire Spanish/Portuguese speaking world.

This place will knock your socks off... VERY impressive. http://www.tocumenpanama.aero/

CARRIERS AND DESTINATIONS : TOCUMEN PANAMA CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

• Air Transat - Seasonal: Edmonton, Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver, Winnipeg
  
  American Airlines - Miami, Seasonal: Dallas/Fort Worth
  
  Avianca - Bogotá
  
  Cayman Airways - Grand Cayman [begins May 31, 2012]
  
  Condor Flugdienst - Frankfurt, Santo Domingo
  
  Copa Airlines - Aruba, Asunción, Barranquilla, Belo Horizonte-Confins, Bogotá, Brasilia, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Cali, Cancún, Caracas, Cartagena de Indias, Chicago-O'Hare, Córdoba, Curaçao [begins June 10, 2012], Guadalajara, Guatemala City, Guayaquil, Havana, Iquitos [begins July 14th, 2012], Kingston, Las Vegas [begins June 27, 2012], Liberia (Costa Rica) [begins June 24, 2012], Lima, Los Angeles, Managua, Manaus, Maracaibo, Medellín-Córdova, Mexico City, Miami, Montego Bay, Monterrey, Montevideo, Nassau, New York-JFK, Orlando, Port-au-Prince, Port of Spain, Porto Alegre, Punta Cana, Quito, Recife [begins 23 June 2012], Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, San Andrés Island, San José de Costa Rica, San Juan, San Pedro Sula, San Salvador, Santa Cruz de la Sierra-Viru Viru, Santiago de Chile, Santiago de los Caballeros, Santo Domingo de Guzmán, São Paulo-Guarulhos, St. Marteen, Tegucigalpa, Toronto-Pearson, Valencia (Venezuela), Washington-Dulles.
  
  Copa Airlines Colombia - Barranquilla, Bogotá, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cartagena de Indias, Cúcuta, Guatemala City, Medellín-Córdova - Pereira, San José de Costa Rica, San Pedro Sula
  
  Delta Air Lines - Atlanta
  
  Dutch Antilles Express - Curaçao
  
  Iberia - Madrid
  
  KLM - Amsterdam
  
  Lacsa - Medellín-Córdova, San José de Costa Rica
  
  SBA Airlines - Caracas
  
  Spirit Airlines - Fort Lauderdale
  
  Sunwing Airlines - Toronto-Pearson  Seasonal: Montréal-Trudeau
  
  TACA Airlines - San Salvador
  
  TAME - Guayaquil, Quito
  
  United Airlines - Houston-Intercontinental, Newark
  
  Venezolana - Caracas, Maracaibo

I still think the first step is regional hub status, then we'll be off the ground.

OCKLAWAHA

[fsquid]

well as a selfish person, I hope it happens.

[tufsu1]

Anyone taken the JetBlue to Puerto Rico out of JAX yet? Wonder if that one is getting filled up...

I will be making that trip in 3 weeks

[ben says]

Anyone taken the JetBlue to Puerto Rico out of JAX yet? Wonder if that one is getting filled up...

I will be making that trip in 3 weeks

Lucky you!

[Gunnar]

^ that insular attitude is what has hurt Jacksonville for decades.....reaching out to other areas and bringing people here will make our city and region better!

That reminds me... when doing an internship at the JEDC several years ago, I participated on the draft of an international development plan.

My suggestion was to see which foreign companies were already present in Duval / the area or alternatively check which foreigners with ties to the Jacksonville area may help bring in investors (e.g. through sister cities). Other cities in the US had already done so successfully (forgot which ones - wish I still had a copy of the report).

This seemed like a good way to e.g. get them to expand, get suppliers to move to the area, plus CEOs know other CEOs....

The first problem was - no one seemed to know which foreign owned businesses operated in the area... checked around, even with the chamber of commerce but they all had no idea.....

[Adam W]

The lakelander might have, but I'm not sure. I personally think if we want to sell the 'International' part of the airport, we need to look at British Airways to London, continuing on to Tampa (their res. center is in Jax).

Well, I'd welcome direct flight from London to Jax. I fly home a minimum of once a year and have taken to flying directly to Orlando (on Virgin) because it's easier and quicker just to drive the extra bit at the end. Otherwise flights home end up having a minimum of one transfer (if I can afford the flight with only one transfer).

I know we've had international carriers flying directly to JAX in the past (I remember IcelandAir did it in the 90s, if I'm correct). It's awesome, though, that JetBlue is flying out of JAX. The one time I flew with them (to NYC), I had to go to Orlando.

[ben says]

The lakelander might have, but I'm not sure. I personally think if we want to sell the 'International' part of the airport, we need to look at British Airways to London, continuing on to Tampa (their res. center is in Jax).

Well, I'd welcome direct flight from London to Jax. I fly home a minimum of once a year and have taken to flying directly to Orlando (on Virgin) because it's easier and quicker just to drive the extra bit at the end. Otherwise flights home end up having a minimum of one transfer (if I can afford the flight with only one transfer).

I know we've had international carriers flying directly to JAX in the past (I remember IcelandAir did it in the 90s, if I'm correct). It's awesome, though, that JetBlue is flying out of JAX. The one time I flew with them (to NYC), I had to go to Orlando.

That Virgin flight from MCO to Heathrow or Gatwick (don't remember...think Heathrow) is one of the most enjoyable flights/routes I've flown. Really something else. I remember even in the late 90's, they were one of the first planes that had TVs for each coach passenger, with decent food and free liquor.

Moreover, never had a problem flying internationally out of Jax. I'm one of the few (except my fiance) people who actually not only don't mind layovers, but enjoy them. It breaks up the monotony of travel days. Anywhere in the world is essentially one layover away. Just went to Tokyo...one quick flight to ATL, another to Narita. End of story.

So, yeah, it sucks we don't have international...but a lot of other cities our size don't either. Not excusing it, just pointing out the obvious. Could be worse (Charleston, Asheville, Savannah, Charlotesville, etc)...

[blizz01]

Interesting that JAX is now a layover for many New Yorkers traveling JetBlue between JFK & San Juan, PR.  Why there is still no flight to Nassau blows my mind - even seasonal flights would be fantastic.

[Adam W]

The lakelander might have, but I'm not sure. I personally think if we want to sell the 'International' part of the airport, we need to look at British Airways to London, continuing on to Tampa (their res. center is in Jax).

Well, I'd welcome direct flight from London to Jax. I fly home a minimum of once a year and have taken to flying directly to Orlando (on Virgin) because it's easier and quicker just to drive the extra bit at the end. Otherwise flights home end up having a minimum of one transfer (if I can afford the flight with only one transfer).

I know we've had international carriers flying directly to JAX in the past (I remember IcelandAir did it in the 90s, if I'm correct). It's awesome, though, that JetBlue is flying out of JAX. The one time I flew with them (to NYC), I had to go to Orlando.

That Virgin flight from MCO to Heathrow or Gatwick (don't remember...think Heathrow) is one of the most enjoyable flights/routes I've flown. Really something else. I remember even in the late 90's, they were one of the first planes that had TVs for each coach passenger, with decent food and free liquor.

Moreover, never had a problem flying internationally out of Jax. I'm one of the few (except my fiance) people who actually not only don't mind layovers, but enjoy them. It breaks up the monotony of travel days. Anywhere in the world is essentially one layover away. Just went to Tokyo...one quick flight to ATL, another to Narita. End of story.

So, yeah, it sucks we don't have international...but a lot of other cities our size don't either. Not excusing it, just pointing out the obvious. Could be worse (Charleston, Asheville, Savannah, Charlotesville, etc)...

I'm 6'6" so I like to get it over as soon as possible. Plus, Virgin allows you to pay an extra £70 and get one of the seats by the door or bulkhead. Score!

[ben says]

Why there is still no flight to Nassau blows my mind - even seasonal flights would be fantastic.

+1.

I think one of the reasons we don't really have international flights is because there's no US Customs unit at JAX. This could be remedied, sure....but so could a lot of things here.

Completely anecdotal, no evidence whatsoever, just a gut instinct: I think JAX could handle a twice or three times a week London flight better than it could the LAX flight everyone wants.