Airfares to NYC continue to soar

Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.自存倉Aug. 28--Soaring New York airfares for Richmond air travelers have whacked travel to what was once Richmond passengers' top destination."New York fares are just outrageous," Jon E. Mathiasen, Richmond International's president and CEO, said Tuesday. "Anywhere I go, that's what I get hit on by business people, the fare structure."In 2007, 424,800 passengers traveled between New York and Richmond at an average one-way fare of $95, according to Capital Region Airport Commission figures.But in 2012, the average one-way fare was $222, and only 174,370 people traveled between Richmond and New York, the commission said.A round-trip ticket next Wednesday for a nonstop flight on Delta Air Lines to New York's LaGuardia Airport was selling Tuesday at prices ranging from $672.70 to $969.80, while a first-class ticket was $1,047.80.Those sorts of prices bear most heavily on business travelers, who often have to make trips at short notice, officials said."At this time, we consider the fares that we offer for the quality of service to be appropriate," Mark DeFrancesco, Delta's director of domestic pricing, told Mathiasen in a June 27 email obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch through a Freedom of Information Act request.But, Mathiasen told Delta, "Based on the drastic drop-off in customers traveling between Richmond and New York, and the tsunami of negative feedback we hear from your customers and potential customers, the market seems to disagree."New York has dropped to No. 4 among RIC's airline markets. "And if it keeps going, Chicago is going to beat it, too," airport spokesman Troy Bell said.Atlanta, Boston and Orlando, Fla., now are the top three travel markets for RIC's passengers, Bell said. New York had long been Richmond's runaway airline destination.New York is served by three major airports: LaGuardia and Kennedy International in New York, and Newark Liberty International in New Jersey.Only one airline has a nonstop from Richmond: Delta Air Lines -- RIC's dominant carrier -- goes into LaGuardia and JFK; United Airlines flies to Newark.As a result, said transportation economist George E. Hoffer at the University of Richmond, the RIC-New York fares are "rational p迷你倉新蒲崗icing for a firm with monopoly power."Since discount carrier JetBlue Airways left the Richmond-New York market in November 2010, walk-up fares have gone up more than 700 percent in price, Bell said, going from about $150 for a round-trip ticket to above $900 now."Prices seem high, whether you're traveling for leisure or business," Bell said. "New York is a pricey market these days."The U.S. airline industry has contracted from more than 20 brand-name carriers in 1978, when federal airline deregulation occurred, to five now, and perhaps four if the merger of American Airlines and US Airways goes through. Less competition typically results in higher prices, industry officials and economists say.Richmond International's passenger traffic was up in July, though just barely. Traffic at RIC was 0.2 percent higher in July than it was during the same month a year ago, according to the airport commission.Last month, 289,380 travelers used the regional airport, compared with 288,798 in the same month of 2012.Richmond International serves nearly 3.2 million passengers a year. After peaking in 2007, RIC's passenger traffic trended downward and has been essentially flat for the past two years.Delta was the month's market leader with 35.1 percent of the July traffic at RIC, the commission reported, followed by US Airways at 18.9 percent and United Airlines at 15.6 percent.Air carriers showing year-over-year passenger growth for the month were: JetBlue Airways, up 17.6 percent; Delta, up 5.5 percent; and US Airways, up 1.2 percent.Cargo volume increased 18.7 percent in July compared with the same month in 2012. So far in 2013, air cargo at RIC is up 19 percent versus the same period last year.Discount giant Southwest Airlines will start flying at RIC on Nov. 3.Southwest will enter the Richmond market with the daily nonstop flight to Orlando now flown by AirTran Airways, which Southwest bought. Southwest's presence in Richmond could put pressure on carriers to lower prices, officials say.pbacque@timesdispatch.com(804) 649-6813Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Va.) Visit the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Va.) at .timesdispatch.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉出租