Old AmrapinVA

Akron-Canton adds another destination: Ft. Lauderdale. Daily seasonal service on AirTran begins in January. Press Release Source: Akron-Canton Airport Akron-Canton Airport Announces Daily Service to Fort Lauderdale Aboard AirTran Airways Thursday September 14, 6:00 am ET Seasonal service January 4, 2007 - May 7, 2007 GREEN, Ohio, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Going to Florida this winter? Then look no farther than Akron-Canton Airport (CAK). Beginning January 4, 2007, AirTran Airways will add daily nonstop service to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, aboard comfy Boeing 717 aircraft. The new service will compliment the carrier's other nonstop Florida flights from CAK to Orlando, Tampa and Fort Myers. Service to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport (FLL) will be the airline's seventh non-stop destination from CAK. ADVERTISEMENT "We are excited to add our 7th non-stop destination from Akron-Canton Airport. With daily non-stops to Atlanta, New York, Boston, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers and now Fort Lauderdale, AirTran Airways quality low-fare service meets the service needs of Northeast Ohio," said John P. Kirby, director of strategic planning and scheduling. "Northeast Ohioans love Florida and flock to the Miami- Fort Lauderdale- Palm Beach corridor for both leisure and business trips," said airport director Fred Krum. "By adding daily Fort Lauderdale flights, AirTran Airways has made getting to the Southeast Florida region easier than ever. Couple that with a brand new concourse, shorter lines, less confusion and nonstop service to all four great Florida cities, and you'll see why AirTran Airways makes CAK the absolute best way to get to Florida this winter." AirTran Airways serves more nonstop destinations and carries more passengers than any other airline at CAK. Because AirTran Airways has significantly reduced air fares in this market, CAK was ranked as the sixth least expensive airport in the country, in the US Department of Transportation's fourth quarter Domestic Airline Fares Consumer Report. Flight Departs CAK Arrives FLL 503 8:40 a.m. 11:30 a.m. Flight Departs FLL Arrives CAK 504 12:35 p.m. 3:25 p.m. About AirTran Airways AirTran Airways, a Fortune 1000 company and one of America's largest low- fare airlines with 7,800 friendly, professional Crew Members, operates nearly 700 daily flights to 50 destinations. The airline's hub is at Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where it is the second largest carrier. AirTran Airways' aircraft features the fuel-efficient Boeing 737-700 and 717- 200 to create America's youngest all-Boeing fleet. The airline is also the first carrier to install XM Satellite Radio on a commercial aircraft and the only airline with Business Class and XM Satellite Radio on every flight. For reservations or more information, visit http://www.airtran.com/ (America Online Keyword: AirTran). About Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) Akron-Canton Airport opened its new, spacious, four-gate passenger concourse in early May from which AirTran Airways operates its big jet flights. The concourse is the centerpiece of the airport's $60 million, five- year STAR expansion project. Other elements of STAR included longer runways, a new baggage claim wing, additional car parking and a food court with national brands. Additional information including flight reservations, directions, real time arrivals and departures, and a blog port is available at www.akroncantonairport.com, CAK's new web portal. Akron-Canton Airport, a better way to go®.

But wait, isn't it a bit misleading to say 'flagship' store...if it isn't really one? It's just a downtown store.

Gotcha!

No link for article.

Macy's had an ad in today's Washington Post about their expansion around the country. Their flagship stores, according to the ad, were in New York, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Atlanta. No mention of Cincy.

Yeah, I I couldn't have said that better myself. Airtraffic is up at Cleveland and when the employees say that planes are packed/traffic is up. and corporate says another....something is wrong. No matter what "conspiracy theory" you think of. Even though the (continental) 767/757 have close to the same amount of seats its the level of service that improves. The 757 BF experience isn't like the 767/777 BF experience. Although on one hand I like having a smaller BF cabin. More FAs for the smaller 7757 BF cabin. Although coach on a 757 vs. a 767 can feel "tight". Cleveland can't get more international service without upgrading the facility. I still think they should move USAir over to the B concourse (with its partner united) and move NW to B along with Delta. Then build the A concourse north this way it can handle larger aircraft. I think there is only one gate that can handle a 747/777 but not a 767. I can't remember. Yeah, if there is ever going to be a true 'international concourse', I'd agree and say A is the prime candidate. BWI literally built a small international concourse with about 10 gates or so designed for widebodies about 10 years ago. Even with the expansion...a fair amount of 757's and smaller aircraft fly out of there. No real point in that at this point for Hopkins. I'd say 6 gates capable of 767 service at the end of A...improvement/expansion of Customs facilities..and some sort of space for another airline (or God forbid CAL) to have a 'Presidents Club' type room. You wouldn't break the bank...and since CAL is moving at a glacial pace it would invite other European carriers to seriously think about starting a flight out of Hopkins when the runway expansion is completed. Like I said, with the current run of news, I'm guessing it won't be to long before we hear some type of plan. Hopefully before the end of the year.

WTF, there was an August article in another thread that said they weren't going forward with the runway expansion because the contractors had all overbid on the RFP and the city couldn't cover the costs. I believe the cheapest bid was somewhere around $68 million. Where did this $41 million figure pop-up. Great news, just weird they axed the plan last month and now it's back on track at less than that of the original cost. Also, screw CAL and their statements about CLE not being able to handle more service. They wouldn't be starting the service to CDG if they didn't think they couldn't make money. I bet CAL will be crying foul if Cleveland brokers a deal with Lufthansa and they start bringing an A330 over the pond to serve Frankfurt when the runway gets extended, all because the boys in Houston are 'waiting for the Cleveland biz community to fly their 757 to Paris'. I second ya' on the upgrading of facilites, I think that news might be just around the corner considering the events of the last few weeks.

CMH.... While I agree with ya for the most part, SkyBus could work for more than a few reasons. Old Indy Air shot themselves in the foot by trying to convert aircraft that were flown under regional contracts into the 'low-cost carrier' models. Those RJ's suck gas faster than an SUV at idle...and oil prices skyrocketed. They were screwed into flying those aircraft because the leases handn't been paid on most of the aircraft. By the time they picked up the A319's it was too late. On top of that United's IAD operation was brutal towards Indy...they matched almost every route dollar-for-dollar while sitting and hiding in bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Indy couldn't raise prices and found itself burning cash like there was no tommorrow. I believe some of SkyBus's routes will have no competition. I don't think Indy had one route that wasn't covered by United and in some cases other carriers. Also Columbus is one of the most underserved markets in terms of air service for a city of its size. It's not not a knock on C-bus CMH, it's just that a metro of over 1.5 million people that is growing should at least have a solid 'focus-city' carrier. You could argue Delta is doing that, but it's a small time op compared to even Midwest Express in Milwaukee. Meanwhile, Washington might be one of the most overserved markets. Just looking at Indy Air's original attempts and the corresponding load factors that followed...there may have been too many options here in the Capital region for the same destinations. I agree with the Orbitz thing....they also will need to market in cities outside Columbus. Indy marketed mostly in Washington and thought word-of-mouth or something would spark 'asses-in-seats' in other cities. That never materialized. The biggest issue, to me, with SkyBus will be where Jet-A costs fall over the next year. The only low-cost American airline having any success at slaying that dragon is Southwest and that's with lots of fuel-hedging. The one thing that I would be worried about too, is that they haven't said what type(s) of aircraft they'll be using. Some are gas-hogs, some are pretty efficient. An 150-seat aircraft could be one of many Boeing or Airbus models. Of course well see if they actually get this thing of the ground and through the FAA process. Virgin America has been around for years and has yet to operate a single flight.

It's funny...when I went to OSU back in the early 90's...C'bus was Reds/Browns. Hell there were more Pirates fans than Indians fans in Columbus back in those days. So I just assumed things hadn't changed that much. I know the Reds played on some powerful AM station, while the AM station for the Indians would fade in and out and I think it was located out in Union County somewhere. Of course when I went to OSU, at least for the first three years, the Indians had one winning season in the last 20. As for the local affiliation thing, it's kinda 'in vogue' in MLB to move your Triple-A franchise and others closer to your city. It also saves logistical problems. When the Indians had their AAA franchise in Colorado Springs back in the 80's it took all sorts of time and effort to ship people back and forth.

Mesa Airlines will underbid anyone, anytime. Trans States bids ridiculously low too. Their super low bidding process is one reason why Atlantic Coast Airlines...an airline that had a very similar role at United's IAD operation to what Comair does at CVG....decided to it would be more prudent to go out on their own as Independence Air. Of course it didn't work out that way. Mesa and Trans States have, in my opinion, awful service and operational performance, so I hope Comair hangs on.

Wouldn't bringing a low-cost carrier into CVG give Delta another excuse not to expand their operation in Cincy? Continental has repeatedly complained about the ever expanding low-cost carrier presence at the CLE/CAK airports as a reason as to why they've been reluctant to grow the CLE hub. Or to put it another way, isn't Delta's success in the 'over-charging' of tickets one of the reasons why CVG can have such a diverse route structure for its market size?

As for the future of the Clippers, I think it'd make sense for Columbus to become a AAA-affiliate for the Reds...I know there is a strong following for the Reds down there. As for the Indians, Buffalo seems a better fit than C-bus even though Buffalo is in a different state. There's always been a fair amount of Indians fans on the south shore of Lake Erie even before the Tribe's affiliation with the Bisons.

By JAY MILLER 2:49 pm, September 13, 2006 Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson today announced his plans for improving Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and evaluating the Burke Lakefront Airport property. As Crain’s reported last week, the city plans to raise money by restructuring taxi service and reconfiguring employee parking to begin a freshening up of Cleveland Hopkins. Mayor Jackson said today that the city could generate $8 million a year from the two changes — money that would be used to make the airport more attractive to passengers and to market the airport to airlines that do not yet offer service from Cleveland. The plan would add a 25-cent per trip surcharge to cab rides from the airport and would create at least 600 new, close-in passenger parking spaces by moving airport employees to more remote parking lots. Ricky D. Smith Sr., the director of Port Control, said he also plans to solicit bids to bolster the food and other retail concessions at Cleveland Hopkins. The mayor also said that the city would begin a master plan for the Burke property. While he has in the past said he would be willing to close the lakefront airport, he said the property’s future would depend on the recommendations that come out of a master planning process. ^^ Crains Article that came out two days before the CDG announcement. Sums up what they have in store for the near future.

I've gotta admit, I'm thrilled and shocked at the same time. It's amazing to me that CAL went from threatening to pull LGW back in July, to now starting CDG. Something big is gonna happen with Hopkins, and sooner than later. This is more than just politicians lobbying for more service out of CLE. They've been doing that for years. CAL sees, or more likely has been promised, something that convinced them to start this service. More than likely Jackson/Smith are more involved in this than what is mentioned on in the press releases and the PD article. It's no coincidence that if you do a Google search of Hopkins you'll find embedded in the CDG articles, stories about improving facilities at Hopkins just days before the Paris announcement. What's interesting about the CAL press release is that it says INITIALLY it will be seasonal service. That's the first time since LGW was downgraded to summer-only that I have seen CAL make any statement (or hint of a statement, which is what it really is) of a possible return to year round service for European flights. This announcement pretty much guarantees that LGW is far from the chopping block as well and may be upgraded to year-round status. I agree with ya CMH on the through flight to Shanghai. That thru-flight option is never much of a success. CAL played with that with LGW back in the early 90's....the CLE-DTW-LGW flight was never much of a success and was pulled only after a year of being in service..and that was offered as a single aircraft flight. United had a 'round-the-world' thru flight LAX-IAD-LHR-DEL-HKG that bombed horribly because after 9/11 it was a 757 trans-con, a 767 to Europe, and a 777 the rest of the route. It sure dosen't feel 'thru' when you have to switch aircraft...which is guaranteed for CLE-EWR-PVG. CAL also is striking because, PIT has lost its European service, and CVG and DET are home to hubs of the worst financially performing airlines in the US, putting their futures in some doubt. Just look at the Comair/Delta mess on the other thread. Good times are ahead, hopefully. I still say San Diego and Seattle need to be addressed too, but this is a good step forward.

Don't tell me it's Parma.

Magadan? ;)

I'll check it out...thanks for the info.

^^ Before anyone starts, I was being sarcastic. Although the peninsula itself is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in the world....for about 3 months.

8 shades got it. God love the old Soviet empire and the beautiful cities it left behind. :)

Let me correct, no on both posts....Magadan getting warmer.

No, and getting cooler.

All right you caught me, it's Lorain. ;)

No, but much warmer

It's port which is removed a bit from the city.

No, but right continent