Portland International Airport (PDX) News - Page 28

babs · #**541** Posted **Apr 5, 2016, 10:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdxtraveler

Our problem is not so much population as proximity to Seattle.

Seattle is about the same distance to Portland as to Vancouver BC

maccoinnich · #**542** Posted **Apr 5, 2016, 10:40 PM**

Yes, but in a different country.

In most international airports it is possible to transit from one international flight to another without entering that country. (i.e., flying from Portland to Amsterdam to the UK I never legally enter the Netherlands). That isn't possible in American airports. So a person flying from London to Vancouver via Seattle needs to enter the US. That might not be a big deal for someone with British citizenship (who are allowed visa free access to the, albeit after ESTA), but it is a big deal for someone with Polish, Indian or South African citizenship, for example.

So for international traffic, Vancouver's proximity to Seattle is a lot less relevant than Portland's proximity to Seattle.

zilfondel · #**543** Posted **Apr 6, 2016, 1:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by babs

Seattle is about the same distance to Portland as to Vancouver BC

Funny, the few times I flew to London I flew through YVR to LHR.

babs · #**544** Posted **Apr 6, 2016, 4:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Yes, but in a different country.

In most international airports it is possible to transit from one international flight to another without entering that country. (i.e., flying from Portland to Amsterdam to the UK I never legally enter the Netherlands). That isn't possible in American airports. So a person flying from London to Vancouver via Seattle needs to enter the US. That might not be a big deal for someone with British citizenship (who are allowed visa free access to the, albeit after ESTA), but it is a big deal for someone with Polish, Indian or South African citizenship, for example.

So for international traffic, Vancouver's proximity to Seattle is a lot less relevant than Portland's proximity to Seattle.

Ironically, the biggest competition for international flights isn't Seattle. It's the willingness of the local population to purchase non-stop flight tickets even if it costs more. If price is the only issue, there is a good chance you will be connecting in NYC, Chicago or some other hub where there are so many flights that the prices tend to be lower. Basically, if we want these flights out of Portland, we have to show a willingness to use them.

PDX2016 · #**545** Posted **Apr 13, 2016, 3:02 AM**

I just got wind that the POP is “pausing” current work on CC-E extension and analyzing various options that would meet the long term needs of both the Port and our airline partners. It appears that changes has occurred at the airport since the original design was approved...

downtownpdx · #**546** Posted **Apr 13, 2016, 12:55 PM**

Interesting, curious if that means a larger expansion, or smaller? Can't imagine the way it's been growing that they'd downsize the plans.

Derek · #**547** Posted **Apr 13, 2016, 2:54 PM**

I'm going to assume larger because of the E175s. The original plan expanded tarmac access for Q400 loading, but I'm assuming Alaska wants jet bridges now since they're kind of phasing those out in favor of the E175s.

pdxtraveler · #**548** Posted **Apr 13, 2016, 3:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derek

I'm going to assume larger because of the E175s. The original plan expanded tarmac access for Q400 loading, but I'm assuming Alaska wants jet bridges now since they're kind of phasing those out in favor of the E175s.

This makes sense. The whole RJ thing still has me confused though, they had RJs and got rid of all of them. So Alaska contracts with SkyWest for their RJ needs. So does that mean they are going to dump SkyWest? I mean I am fine with that, Horizon is local, but just curious....

Derek · #**549** Posted **Apr 13, 2016, 3:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdxtraveler

This makes sense. The whole RJ thing still has me confused though, they had RJs and got rid of all of them. So Alaska contracts with SkyWest for their RJ needs. So does that mean they are going to dump SkyWest? I mean I am fine with that, Horizon is local, but just curious....

Horizon is going to be operating the E175s eventually, I'm not sure what's going to happen to Skywest.

PDX2016 · #**550** Posted **Apr 14, 2016, 12:08 AM**

http://cdn.portofportland.com/pdfs/Mar_2016_Draft_Minutes.pdf

According to the COMMISSION MEETING minutes, March 9, 2016, Mr. Bill Wyatt with the Air Service Development team were in London working on direct air service
to London...Interesting development going on...........

Derek · #**551** Posted **Apr 14, 2016, 2:13 AM**

It'll be a tough sell with up to 3x daily flights to Europe this summer. I'd love to have direct service to London, but it'll probably cost us Condor to Frankfurt. I'd be happy with that if the service to London was year round. I don't see Delta's service to Amsterdam ending any time soon (Nike) and Icelandair's service to Reykjavik has proven to be a huge success here.

trofirhen · #**552** Posted **Apr 16, 2016, 8:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derek

It'll be a tough sell with up to 3x daily flights to Europe this summer. I'd love to have direct service to London, but it'll probably cost us Condor to Frankfurt. I'd be happy with that if the service to London was year round. I don't see Delta's service to Amsterdam ending any time soon (Nike) and Icelandair's service to Reykjavik has proven to be a huge success here.

Compare yourselves to Phoenix. A metro of 4.4 million, and a big airport, Phoenix Sky Harbour, that thoroughly serves the USA and Mexico. Yet .. the only European service is BA to LHR

Derek · #**553** Posted **Apr 18, 2016, 1:06 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Compare yourselves to Phoenix. A metro of 4.4 million, and a big airport, Phoenix Sky Harbour, that thoroughly serves the USA and Mexico. Yet .. the only European service is BA to LHR

Speaking of which, Delta just bumped up capacity to a year round A330 to Amsterdam. They used to operate a 767 in the winter/spring/fall (aside from some random equipment subs on 777s and A330s) and run an A330 in the summer only.

trofirhen · #**554** Posted **Apr 18, 2016, 7:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derek

Speaking of which, Delta just bumped up capacity to a year round A330 to Amsterdam. They used to operate a 767 in the winter/spring/fall (aside from some random equipment subs on 777s and A330s) and run an A330 in the summer only.

Good stuff! Reflecting on it, I think Portland has relatively few European destinations, simply because you're in the "shadow" of Seattle, (which is a little closer to YVR than PDX)

Derek · #**555** Posted **Apr 19, 2016, 12:17 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Good stuff! Reflecting on it, I think Portland has relatively few European destinations, simply because you're in the "shadow" of Seattle, (which is a little closer to YVR than PDX)

Amsterdam
Reykjavik
Frankfurt

Plus Tokyo, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Guadalajara, Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta.

Which is fine for a metro of 2.3 million and an airport that doesn't serve as a hub for one of the "major" airlines. I'll take it. The more the merrier though.

PDX2016 · #**556** Posted **Apr 27, 2016, 3:39 AM**

http://www.oregonbusiness.com/article/it...affic-drives-growth-for-port-of-portland

Highlights from the forum today:

The Port of Portland is contemplating adding gates at Portland International Airport for the first time in 20 years, signaling how increased airplane traffic is the main source of growth for the airport operator.

WestCoast · #**557** Posted **Apr 27, 2016, 12:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDX2016

http://www.oregonbusiness.com/article/it...affic-drives-growth-for-port-of-portland

Highlights from the forum today:

The Port of Portland is contemplating adding gates at Portland International Airport for the first time in 20 years, signaling how increased airplane traffic is the main source of growth for the airport operator.

Hopefully they've re-evaluating the half baked idea to extend E and not use A anymore. Even if they extend E as far down as planned, but make it a full terminal instead of just for Horizon, I think that's a good start.

--
It's nice that the airport thinks ahead. It's certainly not crowded in there yet, but it's getting busier all the time!

pdxlexus · #**558** Posted **Apr 27, 2016, 2:50 PM**

I don’t understand how they can justify additional gates when there are a number that are either underutilized or not used at all. Concourse E is a good example. E6 and E8 are used rarely if at all and the end of E is only used for a couple of Hawaiian and Delta flights. Over on the C concourse there are gates at the end that are used much either.

As much as I’d like to see PDX grow, I don’t see an increase in flights when you still have airlines controlling capacity with smaller planes and fewer flights. I really believe most airlines would rather turn passengers away rather than fly with lower load factors.

mhays · #**559** Posted **Apr 27, 2016, 3:02 PM**

My experience has been Concourse A flying the 30-minute local. Obviously that's land constrained, but wow, could it ever use another 5,000 sf. That sounds like very little, but the fact that it would be a substantial addition percentagewise is telling.

Derek · #**560** Posted **Apr 27, 2016, 3:37 PM**

PDX is currently on pace to serve 18.5 million passengers this year, plus with Horizon ditching their Q400s in favor of E175s it makes sense to add more actual jet bridges. I have a feeling PDX is going to see exponential growth with the E175s. Alaska is supposed to shift over to the E gates within the next couple of years anyways which would help alleviate the congestion at the A gates.