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TUNICA

northernbizzkit1

By northernbizzkit1
in Memphis

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northernbizzkit1 Hamlet

northernbizzkit1

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Rumor is that Allegiant Air is talking to make Tunica a focus city for eastern operations. Not a lot of detail on this, but this would be wonderful for the area! I really don't know a lot about Allegiant Air; however, my question is...does Tunica have jetways? I don't think it does, but the airport's website is rather limited for pics of the new terminal.

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Bears Hamlet

Bears

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Why not put it in both Mississippi and Memphis? More replies to reply to if this board goes completely dead again. Here's some info on the airline:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegiant_Air

They have hubs in Orlando and Las Vegas so I think Tunica will probably focus on Midwest destinations. Any sources for this rumor? What ever happened to JetBlue? Is it still coming?

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sleepy Burg

sleepy

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I can't really see making Tunica a focus city. I don't really see enough business there. If they were going to do that, they might as well do it at MEM, since Northwest will match or undercut their fares in any case. And Memphians aren't going to drive to Tunica for the same airfares they can get at Northwest at MEM.

I don't know Allegiant's air routes, but I could see some lowcost carrier doing limited service to Tunica--maybe 3 or 4 times a week from NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, etc., for gamblers.

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northernbizzkit1 Hamlet

northernbizzkit1

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I can't really see making Tunica a focus city. I don't really see enough business there. If they were going to do that, they might as well do it at MEM, since Northwest will match or undercut their fares in any case. And Memphians aren't going to drive to Tunica for the same airfares they can get at Northwest at MEM.

I don't know Allegiant's air routes, but I could see some lowcost carrier doing limited service to Tunica--maybe 3 or 4 times a week from NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, etc., for gamblers.

I can easily see it happening because Northwest threatens to pull out of Memphis anytime something of this nature is offered for MEM. Basically this is being geared for the Memphis market with Tunica expansion kept in mind. Isn't the Tunica airport only 20-30 minutes away from downtown? I doubt NW has the capacity to undercut anyone in fares considering their bankruptcy debacle...and if Memphians drive to Little Rock and Nashville for Southwest fares (which NW hasn't matched or undercut), what makes you think they won't drive to Tunica?

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cdarr Whistle-Stop

cdarr

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Here's Allegiant's route map: http://www.allegiantair.com/route_map.htm

Looking at its route system, I don't see Allegiant being much of a danger to NW business in Memphis. Other than Las Vegas and Orlando, they are serving only second-tier markets. Its niche seems to be linking small/medium sized cities, or secondary airports near big cities, with the these two major vacation destinations. And its flight schedule is very sporadic - one flight per day, only 2-3 days a week for most cities. That would make it very difficult to set up a connection through Vegas/Orlando, even if you wanted to fly into one of the airports they serve.

Allegiant is clearly set up to bring people into Tunica so they can gamble. So while it might not be much of a benefit to the Memphis flying public, it could be great for business at the casinos!

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northernbizzkit1 Hamlet

northernbizzkit1

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Northwest not matching the low fares out of Little Rock or Nashville is different from Northwest matching low fares out of the Memphis metro.

I'm not trying to sound argumentative here, but how is that? Northwest is losing 1000s of valued customers to Nashville and Little Rock each month due to low prices at Southwest...yet it doesn't do anything about it. I'd say that Allegiant will most likely take the same amount of people from Northwest's Memphis hub each year (due to it serving secondary airports to major cities)...not much of a difference, if you ask me.

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Clobber Burg

Clobber

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I'm not trying to sound argumentative here, but how is that? Northwest is losing 1000s of valued customers to Nashville and Little Rock each month due to low prices at Southwest...yet it doesn't do anything about it. I'd say that Allegiant will most likely take the same amount of people from Northwest's Memphis hub each year (due to it serving secondary airports to major cities)...not much of a difference, if you ask me.

I think the difference is Northwest attitude toward the competition. Assuming reduced fares at Tunica, Memphians will likely prefer Tunica over Nash and LR. I don't know if NW's standard practice is to match fares at other airports or cities with direct competition, though.

Anymore news on Jetblue at MEM?

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sleepy Burg

sleepy

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I think the difference is Northwest attitude toward the competition. Assuming reduced fares at Tunica, Memphians will likely prefer Tunica over Nash and LR. I don't know if NW's standard practice is to match fares at other airports or cities with direct competition, though.

Yes, that's their practice. They drove Sun Air out of Minneapolis and basically put Midwest out of business.

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Bears Hamlet

Bears

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I guess that's probably Allegiant Air then.

The Tunica officals are still keeping quiet but expect an announcement on March 21. East coast carrier and flights begin in May. Here are some hints on who the airline is

"The provider, recently immortalized in a feature film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, will transport passengers to and from Atlanta on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, according to Airport Director Cliff Nash. The planes can hold a maximum of 141 passengers."

Any guesses? Leonardo DiCaprio was in Catch Me if You Can in which he pretended to be a PanAm pilot. Maybe a return of PanAm? :blink:

http://www.tunicatimes.com/default.asp?sou...catimes&he=.com

Edit: Did a quick google and it seems as if Pan Am still exists:

http://www.flypanam.com/dest.html

Seems like this is the one.

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HKG Unincorporated Area

HKG

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The Tunica officals are still keeping quiet but expect an announcement on March 21. East coast carrier and flights begin in May. Here are some hints on who the airline is

"The provider, recently immortalized in a feature film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, will transport passengers to and from Atlanta on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, according to Airport Director Cliff Nash. The planes can hold a maximum of 141 passengers."

Any guesses? Leonardo DiCaprio was in Catch Me if You Can in which he pretended to be a PanAm pilot. Maybe a return of PanAm? :blink:

http://www.tunicatimes.com/default.asp?sou...catimes&he=.com

Edit: Did a quick google and it seems as if Pan Am still exists:

http://www.flypanam.com/dest.html

Seems like this is the one.

Now that is something! Never would've thought PanAm was still around, and definitely would not have thought it would be flying to Tunica. Now only if Tunica could get Southwest to enter the market. Or, maybe when NW cranks Memphis will get some LUV. I would take weekend trips so much more if southwest would open up shop and knock down NW's unconscionable fares.

Future forecast (several years): Memphis International becomes pure freight; Tunica becomes passenger hub with train service to Memphis?

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memphian Hamlet

memphian

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Yep - it's there. I am sure this will be very successful. I am excited about it and I live in Memphis. I think you'll see Mississippians support this if for no other reason than to snub MEM and let them know they aren't as dependent on them as they once were. Just a thought though.

On another note... it says something big when your metro area has 2 competing airports.

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sleepy Burg

sleepy

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Yep - it's there. I am sure this will be very successful. I am excited about it and I live in Memphis. I think you'll see Mississippians support this if for no other reason than to snub MEM and let them know they aren't as dependent on them as they once were. Just a thought though.

On another note... it says something big when your metro area has 2 competing airports.

Memphis's existence is owed to it being a transportation center--the river, railroads (3rd largest rail center), FedEx, a passenger hub for Southern, then Republic, now NWA.

Really, though, the only reason it now has two airports is because I guess the place now has two "nodes"--Tunica/North Mississippi and Memphis. Other than that, I'm sure it's the smallest city in the US with two airports. St. Louis has two, but it's about twice the size of Memphis.

Competition is good for the airlines, whether they like it or not. It is surely a good thing for the consumer.

Smart move for them to fly from Atlanta. AirTran already runs that route, along with Delta and NWA, so NWA won't be able to beat them down on prices.

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Bears Hamlet

Bears

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Future forecast (several years): Memphis International becomes pure freight; Tunica becomes passenger hub with train service to Memphis?

If the Myriad opens, I think Tunica will become its own market. There are enough airports in metro Memphis that can become freight. I think if DHL or some other company moves its N.A. HQ here, one of the two airports in Millington (because its near I-69) or the one in West Memphis (because its near I-40 and I-55) will become the next major airport for freight before MEM gets overtaken. Don't forget that Tunica Airport and MEM might become connected by monorail in the next 20 years.

I'm going to ATL just so I can fly on PanAm - what a cool thing if that's who comes to Tunica! Just think about this too... I bet airport parking is MUCH cheaper in Tunica than at MEM.

I don't think their will be parking fees for an airport with so few flights. There has to be an incentive for flying out of Tunica instead of taking Airtran out of MEM. Airtran's prices are somewhat similar to PanAm's.

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tombarnes City

tombarnes

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With reference to the two airports, the Norfolk/Virginia Beach/Hampton/Newport News area has airports in both Norfolk and Newport News. Newport News' airport is much smaller, but there are commercial flights there on AirTran. I think the most likely scenario for growth at the Tunica airport would be a strong discount carrier entering the market- something like SWA would give people a real reason to go south to fly out of town. Of course, SWA does not enter markets on a whim--not by any means.

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