Big News For Little Rock National Airport

[Aporkalypse]

Um....what do you mean? Virtually the entire terminal and concourse has been renovated in the past 2 years, and its nicer than its ever been. I haven't noticed any incongruent paint scheme.

[mcheiss]

I spend time in a lot of airports and Little Rock's nicer than a lot of airports, just smaller. The small crappy waiting rooms in Orlando the last couple of times I went there irritated me to no end. The remodeled DFW is great but tough to find a bathroom without passing 20 gates.

[Aporkalypse]

I had the same problem with a recent trip to Denver via Dallas. I like the new train system they have, much better than the old one. Only problem is that hardly anyone uses it.

[turboturtle]

Virtually the entire terminal and concourse has been renovated in the past 2 years, and its nicer than its ever been.

[theman]

Delta did apply to serve LIT-DCA (Regan National Airport in DC) a few weeks ago using slots vacated from another airline, hopefully LIT wins

http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/p89/445956.pdf

Other routes applying for the DCA slots are US Airways DCA-PNS (Pensacola) , then Airtran for an additional ATL-DCA, Midwest for an additional MKE(Milwaukee)-DCA, then ATA for an additional MDW(Chicago) DCA.

[arkansas_buff]

Update: The construction on the extension is completed, and Runway 4R/22L is open! Total length is 8,250, making it only 23 ft shorter than the other commercial runway. Next on the "to-do" list is a 1,100 ft extension of general aviation runway 18/36 (over by Central). This will take the general aviation runway to a total of 6,225 ft. This work is slated to begin in June.

[turboturtle]

This post is for Sammy00. Who posted this recently in new forum...

" What's up guys?

- Sorry if this has been discussed already, I'm a little new around here.

I have recently been hearing rumblings concerning a new airport terminal at Little Rock National, and it has me pretty excited.

I see LIT as a little bit of an embarrassment now, not because it's not well kept, but because of it's miniature size (kinda silly I guess).

Supposedly the Airport is reviewing wheather to renovate the current terminal, or build a completely new one.

The current terminal was built to serve 1 million passengers a year (which is less than XNA served this past year).

Last year LIT served 2.6 million.

The new terminal would apparently be in a Y-Shape, and contain 20 gates, up from the crowded 12 it has now. Costs would be around $250 million, however some think renovation would rival the cost of simply building the new one.

http://www.airportbusiness.com/article/art...p;siteSection=4

It'll be a while, but I would like to see it happen. "

[Aporkalypse]

The airport needs a Chili's or TGIF type of place for those waiting for planes. All you have now is the brewhouse and a Burger King.

[turboturtle]

The airport needs a Chili's or TGIF type of place for those waiting for planes. All you have now is the brewhouse and a Burger King.

[ARtoAK]

Is there any new news on DL adding LIT-DCA? It's been a while since the proposal was sent in. Also, LIT is on the map to get the new Embraer 175 and/or CRJ-900's that NW is getting this summer. Both aircraft will be at all hubs but -900 will be mostly on MSP routes and the -175 on DTW routes. Hopefully one of these will replace the "long" flights to DTW and MSP. It gets kinda bad after 2 hours on a CRJ-200.

I don't know if this has been metioned before and kind of old news but UPS is flying the A300 daily(except for 757 Sat.) to LIT making it the first daily scheduled widebody flight through LIT.

[ARtoAK]

from KATV-Little Rock

"Two airlines based in Mexico are in talks to offer direct flights between Little Rock and Mexico. "

"Little Rock National Airport spokesman Phil Launius says the airport hopes that the airlines will make Little Rock the hub for operations in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Tennessee. "

"Discussions between the airport and two airlines have been taking place for about a year."

This would be huge news for LIT and it would possibly speed up the decision on whether to add to or build a whole new terminal.

[vbfl85]

"State statistics show Mexico was Arkansas' second-largest export destination, with $415 million worth of goods heading there in 2005. Canada was number one with more than $1 billion in goods."

That statistic seems odd. Maybe because of Wal Mart?

[turboturtle]

"State statistics show Mexico was Arkansas' second-largest export destination, with $415 million worth of goods heading there in 2005. Canada was number one with more than $1 billion in goods."

That statistic seems odd. Maybe because of Wal Mart?

[Architect]

from KATV-Little Rock

"Two airlines based in Mexico are in talks to offer direct flights between Little Rock and Mexico. "

"Little Rock National Airport spokesman Phil Launius says the airport hopes that the airlines will make Little Rock the hub for operations in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Tennessee. "

"Discussions between the airport and two airlines have been taking place for about a year."

This would be huge news for LIT and it would possibly speed up the decision on whether to add to or build a whole new terminal.

[turboturtle]

Thanks for the heads-up. The Dem-Gaz had a short bulletin in the paper today about this. Airport officials said that service isn't eminent, but the negotiations are going well. This would be fantastic, and certainly would create a "true" international airport for what its worth. If the airline committed to this market only as the hub for several states, it could do quite well...with feeder service (by established airlines) added from XNA, New Orleans, Nashville (Memphis already exists), etc. Also as mentioned, this could be the final impetus to proceed with the new terminal.

[theman]

Hopefully this doesn't become one of those lost opportunities because the infrastructure was not already in place.

[Architect]

Hopeful the talk of a new terminal will bring them here. Since service is not going to happen anytime soon, the airport commission can get the financing in place to get the terminal built. That would show commitment. It needs to be done anyway if LR wants to attract more service.

I wonder if having the consulate here was part of the decision making process of having LR being basically a mid south hub for these two airlines?

[Lexy]

Thanks for the heads-up. The Dem-Gaz had a short bulletin in the paper today about this. Airport officials said that service isn't eminent, but the negotiations are going well. This would be fantastic, and certainly would create a "true" international airport for what its worth. If the airline committed to this market only as the hub for several states, it could do quite well...with feeder service (by established airlines) added from XNA, New Orleans, Nashville (Memphis already exists), etc. Also as mentioned, this could be the final impetus to proceed with the new terminal.

[RyanA]

These two airlines do not have service in cities three times the size of LIT yet. I seriously, seriously doubt they will establish service there before establishing it in places like Minneapolis, Memphis, and even Nashville for that matter. If they did, the cities you mentioned, sans one of them, would get direct service to Mexico (which both Memphis and Nashville already have) as opposed to regional service to a "hub" in LIT. The cities are just too big to ferry people to small hubs that offer absolutely no connections. I don't see the service starting in LIT and ESPECIALLY a hub for either one. These two airlines have far bigger fish to fry at the moment. Little Rock doesn't have sufficent O&D traffic to establish a hub to begin with. Let alone a hub to the Central American market. That, my friend, can be found down the road in Dallas.

[Architect]

These two airlines do not have service in cities three times the size of LIT yet. I seriously, seriously doubt they will establish service there before establishing it in places like Minneapolis, Memphis, and even Nashville for that matter. If they did, the cities you mentioned, sans one of them, would get direct service to Mexico (which both Memphis and Nashville already have) as opposed to regional service to a "hub" in LIT. The cities are just too big to ferry people to small hubs that offer absolutely no connections. I don't see the service starting in LIT and ESPECIALLY a hub for either one. These two airlines have far bigger fish to fry at the moment. Little Rock doesn't have sufficent O&D traffic to establish a hub to begin with. Let alone a hub to the Central American market. That, my friend, can be found down the road in Dallas.

[Lexy]

Okay. You can't see it, but I can. Things, big things, are happening in Arkansas. So please don't down our capitol city. If it wasn't for Little Rock turning FedEx down, Memphis wouldn't even have it. I believe LIT will take this oppurtunity and use it well. It's alright though. You can hate on Arkansas all you want. We may not be number one is exports to Mexico, but we're ahead of Tennessee.

[RyanA]

Actually, FedEx approached Smyrna, Tennessee back in the 1970's for their original hub. Research it and you'll see that. But either way, I realize things, big things, are happening there. But they are happening in bigger more lucrative cities too. Hey, Aeromexico is parking a number of airplanes in their fleet because they are having to downsize their company a bit to remain competitive. They, and Mexicana, are well known to sit on frequencies and slots and never use them. Chicago is a prime example with having only a few flights on either of them daily, but having slots available for many more.

They have approched cities because it's their responsiblity to gauge the intrest from places and then choose their stations accordingly. Just because an airline comes to a city and says, "would you welcome us?" doesn't mean it's going to happen. I think it's also worth mentioning, the Mexican government is very picky about granting approval for markets in the US for these airlines, so that may play into it. Nashville struggled with it's approval for Mexican flights because it was an American carrier that was going to fly them and not a flagship airline of Mexico. I think you guys need to take an open mind on this. There are cities, more important (profit wise), larger, and much more lucrative that these two airlines have yet to enter in the USA. Economics 101 says they go there before going to a market that is smaller, and less likely to draw a profit.

I'm not hating on LIT though so get rid of that thought. Just because I type something that you don't want to hear, doesn't mean I am hating. Come on. The aviation business is a joke and unless you understand it, you really can't make an educated comment on it. It's all about profits. If they make money, they fly it. If not, then they don't. Period.

[Aporkalypse]

Actually, FedEx approached Smyrna, Tennessee back in the 1970's for their original hub. Research it and you'll see that. But either way, I realize things, big things, are happening there. But they are happening in bigger more lucrative cities too. Hey, Aeromexico is parking a number of airplanes in their fleet because they are having to downsize their company a bit to remain competitive. They, and Mexicana, are well known to sit on frequencies and slots and never use them. Chicago is a prime example with having only a few flights on either of them daily, but having slots available for many more.

They have approched cities because it's their responsiblity to gauge the intrest from places and then choose their stations accordingly. Just because an airline comes to a city and says, "would you welcome us?" doesn't mean it's going to happen. I think it's also worth mentioning, the Mexican government is very picky about granting approval for markets in the US for these airlines, so that may play into it. Nashville struggled with it's approval for Mexican flights because it was an American carrier that was going to fly them and not a flagship airline of Mexico. I think you guys need to take an open mind on this. There are cities, more important (profit wise), larger, and much more lucrative that these two airlines have yet to enter in the USA. Economics 101 says they go there before going to a market that is smaller, and less likely to draw a profit.

I'm not hating on LIT though so get rid of that thought. Just because I type something that you don't want to hear, doesn't mean I am hating. Come on. The aviation business is a joke and unless you understand it, you really can't make an educated comment on it. It's all about profits. If they make money, they fly it. If not, then they don't. Period.

[Lexy]

I understand all of that. I'm not giving up hope on Little Rock. A true Arkansan wouldn't. I was born a Razorback and will forever be a Razorback. I know that other cities have a chance and Little Rock has a smaller market than that of other cities, but I don't want to rule out Little Rock because it might just be the city to get it.

[Aporkalypse]

I certainly think that's fair and very justifiable in my opinion. I respect that totally and would do the same for our airport here in Nashville. The deal about the Mexican flights is that they absolutely have to make money or else they get pulled. They are hard to make work because in new markets, like both of ours, Hispanics are hardly documented to their true population numbers and that makes it hard to justify new serivce to cities that aren't close to Mexico already (Texas, Arizona, etc.). Most everything is based on "guess-timates" and that just doesn't cut it in today's aviation world.

Just a little food for thought, Mexicana started flights to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS-MEX) just fairly recently and they aren't doing well at all. I have heard rumors about them pulling the flights from there within the next year so who knows. Austin is only a few hours from the Mexican border, if that! It's also fair to mention that Mexicana and American Airlines codeshare a great deal in the US-MEX marketplace.

On a side note to the FedEx post, that was truely your states biggest economics flub, in my opinion. Losing a hub like FedEx is huge any way you cut it.