"Discount carriers, location key to small airports' success"

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Discount carriers, location key to small airports' success
By Joe Milicia
The Associated Press

 
GREEN, Ohio - The relaxed pace at Akron-Canton Airport doesn't reflect that
it's one of the fastest growing airports in the country. 
 
Akron-Canton and other small to midsize airports are taking business from
larger hubs with a formula for success that starts with a discount airline.
Add in proximity to a big metro area, light traffic and short lines and the
passengers seem to follow. 

"I love this airport," said Elaine Smolka of suburban Chicago after landing
at Akron-Canton on Wednesday. "I came from O'Hare and this airport is such a
pleasure compared with what you have to go through there." 

Smolka's not alone in her admiration for Akron-Canton, which has tripled its
number of passengers in the last 10 years to nearly 1.4 million last year.
Except for 2001, Akron-Canton's passenger traffic has increased every year
since AirTran Airways began flying from there in 1996. 

"We couldn't do it without them," airport director Fred Krum said. 

Low-fare airliners have been the key to success for smaller airports, said
Richard V. Butler, professor of economics at Trinity University in San
Antonio. Passengers are attracted to the low fares and rival carriers then
are drawn in to compete for the traffic that's been generated. 

It's the same story at Bishop International Airport in Flint, Mich., which
topped 1 million passengers last year. 

"They called us the big white elephant in the field," airport spokeswoman
Pat Corfman said. "Without AirTran, we would still be the big white elephant
in the field." 

AirTran spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver said the company chose Akron-Canton
and Flint because they were in underserved markets with high fares. 

"Akron-Canton and Flint are both airports that have been very successful for
us," she said. 

Both are blessed with a great location. Akron-Canton is just 50 miles from
Cleveland. Bishop is 70 miles from Detroit and the closest airport to
booming Oakland County. 

"These are airports that have repositioned themselves as secondary access
points to a big area," said Mike Boyd, president of The Boyd Group, an
Evergreen, Colo.-based aviation consulting firm. 

Smaller airports are compatible with discount airlines because they can get
passengers in and out faster, limiting downtime on the runway, which is
crucial to the airlines' low-cost model, said Hugo Burge, president of
Cheapflights.com. 

"There's an unrecognized battle going on between smaller airports and more
traditional airports," Burge said. 

Manchester Airport in New Hampshire follows the formula, drawing from Logan
International Airport in Boston 50 miles away. 

Congestion at and around Logan and Manchester's addition of Southwest
Airlines have helped it grow from 1 million passengers in 1997 to four
million last year. 

"We truly have become Boston's other airport," said assistant airport
director J. Brian O'Neill. 

But the formula can't be repeated everywhere. Many small airports are
struggling and aren't located near a population base that's large enough to
attract a discount carrier, Boyd said. 

For the ones that are, the sky's the limit. Krum said that Akron-Canton
could eventually grow nearly fourfold to 5 million passengers a year.

Attached Photo:

Still room to move: Akron-Canton has tripled its number of passengers in the
last 10 years to nearly 1.4 million last year.

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