Non-stop Texas service tops airport wish list

John Howell
Posted 9/10/15

Direct flights from Green Airport to Ireland have become the “holy grail” of local airline service for many Rhode Islanders.

It’s mentioned whenever new service to Green is talked about, and …

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Non-stop Texas service tops airport wish list

Posted

Direct flights from Green Airport to Ireland have become the “holy grail” of local airline service for many Rhode Islanders.

It’s mentioned whenever new service to Green is talked about, and when elected officials from Shannon visited last year along with airport officials, Joseph McNamara and other Warwick representatives hosted them to a reception at the State House. There was a lot of hoopla and talk about a Green connection to the Emerald Isle.

But while Green continues discussions with Shannon Airport and service to Ireland is an objective, non-stop service to Dallas-Ft. Worth tops the list of desired locations, Kelly Fredericks told the Warwick Rotary Club Thursday. The president and CEO of the Rhode Island Corporation said demand for Texas service is high, and in addition, it would open connections to international flights to South America and other locations.

As for possible additional service, Fredericks called London and Paris “very real” possibilities. Also on his list of potential international destinations were Cancun and the Dominican Republic.

Fredericks gave the service club an overview of the airline industry and how changes have impacted Green. He said the shift to the use of smaller aircraft, filling virtually every seat, and the elimination of some hub airports has particularly hurt Green and other medium hub airports.

Green has seen a steady decline in passenger traffic, from a high of 5.7 million in 2005 to 3.6 million last year. The number of daily flights departing from Green is now 53, as compared to 111 a day 10 years ago.

In 2005, 11 airlines were flying out of Green offering a total of 11,225 seats daily. Today, there are five airlines with 6,117 available seats. About 90 percent of those seats are filled, as compared to aircraft flying with 60 to 70 percent in 2005.

“We don’t have a demand problem,” Fredericks said. “We have a capacity problem.”

To grow and to reach the 5 million passenger threshold Fredericks deems critical for Green, RIAC is working on two fronts. The first is to get airlines to increase the number of seats available along with improved and new service, and then for people to use those services. Looking at the market areas south, west and north of Green Airport, Fredericks is confident airlines will have the passengers if they provide the service at competitive rates.

He said the market area is 30 to 40 percent under served.

Might the passengers go elsewhere?

“Logan can’t grow fast enough to accommodate future demand,” he said.

There are recent success stories, like the two international flights introduced this year. Fredericks said twice-weekly Condor flights to Frankfurt, Germany, were 90 percent full. The seasonal service ended this month, but Fredericks is hopeful the airlines will expand it to at least October next year. Also flying close to capacity are flights to Cabo Verde, which Green wooed from Boston.

Fredericks said Green’s air cargo business is growing. Currently, 11.3 million pounds of cargo leaves Green annually. RIAC is looking to increase those numbers as well.

Fredericks talked about ongoing airport improvement projects, focusing on the extension of the main runway – with a projected completion of December 2017 – as enabling airlines to offer non-stop service to the West Coast. Also, a longer runway will enable airlines to operate more efficiently, especially in warm weather when they are forced to reduce weight, depending on the size of the aircraft, because of the increased space needed for takeoff due to thinner air.

And once the longer runway is completed, the improvements won’t stop. Fredericks said RIAC is looking to further develop air cargo as well as building additional taxiways. Expansion of the terminal may also be in Green’s future.

Fredericks emphasized that no state dollars go into running the state airports.

“Aviation pays for aviation,” he said. He put the economic impact of the airport on the state’s economy at $1.2 billion. He said there are 1,500 jobs directly related to the airport. The number of direct and indirect jobs related to the airport he placed at 11,567.

Comments

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  • jfraser

    “Logan can’t grow fast enough to accommodate future demand". And neither should Green. Its time to reconsider Quonset as the location for the state's primary airport.

    Friday, September 11, 2015 Report this

  • latitude41

    Quonset has but one runway that could accommodate commercial airline traffic and it is barely longer than the 1960s era main runway at Green. Approach lighting fixtures would have to be placed out in the bay to mark the runway as at LaGuardia and Washington National airports. The other crosswind runway would have to be lengthened and the bay would need to be filled in to even make it marginally long enough for airliners. A zero chance of being able to mess with Narragansett Bay for projects of that magnitude. There are a host of other geographic and infrastructure issues that make Quonset impractical. These days many of even the most staunch Green Airport NIMBYS have laid the Quonset idea to rest. It's time the rest of us do as well.

    Friday, September 11, 2015 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    Please, get rid of the airport, interstate, railroad station, all the ugly big box stores, etc.

    We want Warwick to be like it used to be in the good old days.

    Friday, September 11, 2015 Report this

  • alrad1031

    how about getting back all (or some) of the non-stops to Chicago? No wonder passenger traffic is down.

    Tuesday, September 15, 2015 Report this