Nashville International Airport PHOTOS (BNA), Airlines and Flights General discussion

[NashRugger]

I really wonder how that route will do given JetBlue, Southwest, & Spirit already run it as 1/3/1 frequencies, respectively. 

Also, with the new contract with the carriers at the airport and requirements, one has to wonder how many of these Allegiant routes will be sticking around. The airport wants to maximize revenue in every aspect and this was likely a shot at the ULCCs, heavily towards Allegiant given load factors. 

[jmtunafish]

Air France is taking over the RDU-CDG route in October.  Delta has been flying nonstop RDU-CDG since 2016, but Air France will be taking over and on larger aircraft (B 787).

I read this and want to pull my hair out.  I sure hope when BNA's international gates open we'll see a similar announcement for our airport which is is almost twice the size of Raleigh-Durham (20 million passengers vs. 11.8 million).  RDU also has transatlantic flights to London-Heathrow on American and Reykjavik on Icelandair.

https://www.rdu.com/air-france-to-become-rdus-15th-airline/

[Pdt2f]

On 7/11/2023 at 8:39 PM, NashRugger said:

I really wonder how that route will do given JetBlue, Southwest, & Spirit already run it as 1/3/1 frequencies, respectively. 

Also, with the new contract with the carriers at the airport and requirements, one has to wonder how many of these Allegiant routes will be sticking around. The airport wants to maximize revenue in every aspect and this was likely a shot at the ULCCs, heavily towards Allegiant given load factors. 

I would expect allegiant to do well on the route, considering it is a popular destination and they can totally undercut the other carriers prices on the route. I’ve only flown Allegiant once - IAD to BNA a few months ago - which is already served by UA but the plane was packed. $48 one way. 

2 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

Air France is taking over the RDU-CDG route in October.  Delta has been flying nonstop RDU-CDG since 2016, but Air France will be taking over and on larger aircraft (B 787).

I read this and want to pull my hair out.  I sure hope when BNA's international gates open we'll see a similar announcement for our airport which is is almost twice the size of Raleigh-Durham (20 million passengers vs. 11.8 million).  RDU also has transatlantic flights to London-Heathrow on American and Reykjavik on Icelandair.

https://www.rdu.com/air-france-to-become-rdus-15th-airline/

I could be wrong but I believe that American LHR flight has heavy subsidies and the CDG flight is primarily due to something like the pharmaceutical or biotech industries, which create a lot of demand for premium class seats. They have less traffic but more of a percentage of their traffic is higher yielding business travelers, instead of the heavy amounts of budget minded leisure travelers that come to BNA. 

[dmillsphoto]

18 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

Air France is taking over the RDU-CDG route in October.  Delta has been flying nonstop RDU-CDG since 2016, but Air France will be taking over and on larger aircraft (B 787).

I read this and want to pull my hair out.  I sure hope when BNA's international gates open we'll see a similar announcement for our airport which is is almost twice the size of Raleigh-Durham (20 million passengers vs. 11.8 million).  RDU also has transatlantic flights to London-Heathrow on American and Reykjavik on Icelandair.

https://www.rdu.com/air-france-to-become-rdus-15th-airline/

My sentiment as well. Regardless of the type demand (industry related or whatever), BNA needs a 787-9 via either CDG or AMS as either one is a true hub into Europe. And it would sell like hot cakes. However, Schipol is reducing the number of inbound flights so that rules out AMS, and CDG is a cluster any time I fly through. Maybe we can get a TAP route via Lisbon... and none of these routes would require lengthening runways.

[Bos2Nash]

16 minutes ago, dmillsphoto said:

Maybe we can get a TAP route via Lisbon... and none of these routes would require lengthening runways.

Tap, Aer Lingus or Lufthansa would all be great additions (although I've never flown TAP before). But I think Lufthansa is dusting off their A380s which might mean they would require a runway extension to bring them here.

[NashRugger]

21 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

Air France is taking over the RDU-CDG route in October.  Delta has been flying nonstop RDU-CDG since 2016, but Air France will be taking over and on larger aircraft (B 787).

I read this and want to pull my hair out.  I sure hope when BNA's international gates open we'll see a similar announcement for our airport which is is almost twice the size of Raleigh-Durham (20 million passengers vs. 11.8 million).  RDU also has transatlantic flights to London-Heathrow on American and Reykjavik on Icelandair.

https://www.rdu.com/air-france-to-become-rdus-15th-airline/

It's more a takeover of the route that is currently run by their SkyTeam partner, Delta. Most likely to shift aircraft to better opportunities. So while the carrier flag is new, that and the reduction in frequency to 3x weekly are the only changes that are noticeable. 

[Pdt2f]

2 hours ago, Bos2Nash said:

Tap, Aer Lingus or Lufthansa would all be great additions (although I've never flown TAP before). But I think Lufthansa is dusting off their A380s which might mean they would require a runway extension to bring them here.

If Lufthansa starts flying A380s to BNA I’ll eat my hat. 

[smeagolsfree]

I think we have heard Lufthansa mentioned at the meetup before, so don't put your hat away as they are not out of the realm of possibility.

[Pdt2f]

2 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

I think we have heard Lufthansa mentioned at the meetup before, so don't put your hat away as they are not out of the realm of possibility.

It’s not LH that I’m skeptical of, it’s the A380. LH has plenty of aircraft that would make sense for BNA, but a 500 seater isn’t one of them. 

[Bos2Nash]

6 minutes ago, Pdt2f said:

It’s not LH that I’m skeptical of, it’s the A380. LH has plenty of aircraft that would make sense for BNA, but a 500 seater isn’t one of them. 

I only brought the A380 up because I know they would be putting into service 6 (maybe 9) of them. I am not familiar with their whole fleet of trans-Atlantic aircraft. I agree that the A380 does not make sense for BNA either. Also, BNA is not planning on infrastructure to service such a large aircraft as far as I know.

[NashRugger]

A plane that large , I can say soundly, will never be a reality at BNA. Hell, the only time you'll likely ever see it is for a diversion.

But ya know, we can always dream beyond the Dreamliner. 

[Sean blackdog]

Today this evening. 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by Sean blackdog

[donNdonelson2]

45 minutes ago, Sean blackdog said:

Today this evening. 

 

 

I’ve never seen the American Airlines AirCal livery before. What’s the story behind that one?

[Nothingspectacular]

American Airlines bought AirCal many years ago. The aircraft is one of several heritage liveries used by American. 

[Sean blackdog]

Yesterday evening. 

[Sean blackdog]

Today this morning. 
UPS Airlines Cargo Boeing 747(F)
Anchorage to Louisville diverted to BNA due storm. And APU broke. 

[Sean blackdog]

Today this evening. 
Airbus A 350-900 landed at BNA first time. 
Seoul flight to Atlanta diverted to BNA. 
Cause of bad weather in ATL. 

[Nathan_in_DC]

On 7/14/2023 at 9:00 AM, smeagolsfree said:

I think we have heard Lufthansa mentioned at the meetup before, so don't put your hat away as they are not out of the realm of possibility.

Concur with Smeags here. I don't have any insider knowledge or anything, but I certainly wouldn't count out a LH flight to Frankfurt or Munich, especially if no flights to CDG or AMS materialize. Nashville would fit well in their network. Another European option that would be interesting and feasible would be a Condor flight to Frankfurt, or even Berlin.

[NashRugger]

AMS (Amsterdam) is pretty much going to be off the table for new US cities in general with the Dutch government taking a huge chop to slots at the airport. So that's not really a factor hear and then you here about how CDG is just atrocious as a destination and also connecting airport. 

You can look at the success of the STL-FRA Lufthansa flights as a good signal for the company to want to expand to other mid-size markets in the US, such as BNA. 

Edited July 22, 2023 by NashRugger

[GreenHillsBoy]

I'm happy for the growth and the look of the new terminal, BUT the departure drop off and the arrival pick up is completely a disaster.  Twice in the last month I've taken family and the exit off I-40 is backed up to near the new Ferrari dealership and literally inches toward the drop off point.  To make it even worse, more and more people are picking up deplaning guests in the departure level which makes it even worse instead of the second level arrival area.  The new cell waiting area is off Murfreesboro Rd near the old Genesco building and this past Thursday after a near 25 minute ordeal to drop off family after hitting the back up on I-40, I finally went toward Murfreesboro Rd to avoid I-40 and passed the rather large cell phone waiting area....THREE cars were there on an incredibly busy Thursday.   Based on the current structure I really don't see a way to correct this issue as the parking garages and terminal have somewhat hemmed in the lanes to departure and arrivals. What a mess!!!

[tragenvol]

15 hours ago, GreenHillsBoy said:

The new cell waiting area is off Murfreesboro Rd near the old Genesco building and this past Thursday after a near 25 minute ordeal to drop off family after hitting the back up on I-40, I finally went toward Murfreesboro Rd to avoid I-40 and passed the rather large cell phone waiting area....THREE cars were there on an incredibly busy Thursday.  

It's 3.5 miles from  the terminal, but apparently it's only the temporary cell waiting area.

[Sean blackdog]

Today this morning from Facebook. 
 

Join us in welcoming Silver Airways to BNA!  
Excitement filled the air today as we welcomed passengers from Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) on the inaugural flight. 

[RonCamp]

On 7/21/2023 at 1:30 PM, Nathan_in_DC said:

Concur with Smeags here. I don't have any insider knowledge or anything, but I certainly wouldn't count out a LH flight to Frankfurt or Munich, especially if no flights to CDG or AMS materialize. Nashville would fit well in their network. Another European option that would be interesting and feasible would be a Condor flight to Frankfurt, or even Berlin.

On 7/21/2023 at 4:58 PM, NashRugger said:

AMS (Amsterdam) is pretty much going to be off the table for new US cities in general with the Dutch government taking a huge chop to slots at the airport. So that's not really a factor hear and then you here about how CDG is just atrocious as a destination and also connecting airport. 

You can look at the success of the STL-FRA Lufthansa flights as a good signal for the company to want to expand to other mid-size markets in the US, such as BNA. 

Do not count out LH.  AMS isn't off the table, but is unlikely for the reason listed above.

On 7/22/2023 at 3:49 PM, GreenHillsBoy said:

I'm happy for the growth and the look of the new terminal, BUT the departure drop off and the arrival pick up is completely a disaster.  Twice in the last month I've taken family and the exit off I-40 is backed up to near the new Ferrari dealership and literally inches toward the drop off point.  To make it even worse, more and more people are picking up deplaning guests in the departure level which makes it even worse instead of the second level arrival area.  The new cell waiting area is off Murfreesboro Rd near the old Genesco building and this past Thursday after a near 25 minute ordeal to drop off family after hitting the back up on I-40, I finally went toward Murfreesboro Rd to avoid I-40 and passed the rather large cell phone waiting area....THREE cars were there on an incredibly busy Thursday.   Based on the current structure I really don't see a way to correct this issue as the parking garages and terminal have somewhat hemmed in the lanes to departure and arrivals. What a mess!!!

I am interested in this as well.  Does anyone know if the arrival and departure lanes/roads/ramps will be expanded once the "loop" is relocated farther away from the garages after Donelson Pike is moved?  There isn't a ton of room, but both the arrival and departure levels could be expanded by one, perhaps two lanes (see diagram below with area for expansion outlined in red):

On 7/23/2023 at 7:45 AM, tragenvol said:

It's 3.5 miles from  the terminal, but apparently it's only the temporary cell waiting area.

It is only temporary.  Not sure where it's going, but once the Donelson Pike relocation is complete it will be moving closer to the terminal.  It is very underused now, for good reason.  Totally inconvenient.

[CenterHill]

On 7/23/2023 at 7:45 AM, tragenvol said:

It's 3.5 miles from  the terminal, but apparently it's only the temporary cell waiting area.

I think people either don’t know about the Murfreesboro Rd cell waiting lot or they refuse to use it because it’s inconvenient.  I recently used the cell waiting lot on a Friday morning and was literally the only car in there.    What I see happening is people coming to pick up are taking their chances circling the terminal loop or just pulling over on the sides of the loop road or wherever they can find a spot to tuck into, contributing to the congestion issues.   I realize all the construction causes headaches, but I do think the airport authority could have put a bit more planning into the ingress/egress during construction.  It’s a mess right now.   

[Sean blackdog]

Today this evening. 
 

https://simpleflying.com/spirit-airlines-launch-three-new-routes-miami-nashville-chicago-september-2023/

September 7th 2023.
-Miami to Nashville by  Airbus a319.  
4 times. Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday. 
-Nashville to Boston by Airbus a230.  
6 times. Sunday through Friday. 

 

Edited August 1, 2023 by Sean blackdog