The airline industry is shrinking, but officials at the Lynchburg Regional Airport believe the region can attract another carrier.
It will take considerable time and effort, though, because of the lagging economy, high oil prices and airline consolidation.
Airlines “are in the business of making more money,” and not moving more passengers, said Mike Boyd, president of The Boyd Group, at Tuesday’s Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce meeting.
Following the loss of United Express in 2002 and Delta at the beginning of this year, Lynchburg Regional Airport has been served by only one carrier, US Airways.
US Airways flies to Charlotte six times a day and offers competitive fares, about 37 percent lower than the average airfare in Roanoke, said Mark Courtney, director of the Lynchburg Regional Airport.
Still, about 49 percent of Region 2000 flyers drive to other airports because of a lack of available airline seats in Lynchburg.
The airport’s most-recent air traffic report shows that the total number of passengers in the first seven months of this year has declined by about 20 percent from the same time period in 2010 — 105,223 total passengers in January-July of 2010 compared to 83,774 in January-July this year.
Boyd said focusing on US Airways and United Airlines makes the most sense; both offer the greatest opportunities for growth.
“We don’t think Delta’s coming back anytime soon,” said Boyd, who is helping Lynchburg create a strategy to attract airlines.
From Lynchburg, US Airways can connect to a hub in Philadelphia and United can connect to a hub in Washington/Dulles, creating more opportunities for each company.
Delta left Lynchburg in part because it was almost 400 miles from the closest hub in Atlanta.
The goal, said Courtney, is to attract “a full service network carrier that has global and domestic destinations.”
That connectivity will allow residents to see the world and “the world to get to us.”
Source: http://www2.newsadvance.com
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