GSP International

[interestedexpat]

That's a good point about people flying into and out of nearby airports robbing G'ville of a chance for the kind of traffic necessary to draw a low cost carrier.

For example, I'm going from G'ville to San Antonio this summer with the family and I've been looking. G'ville is over $150 more expensive than Charlotte. With 4 family members, that's $600. Do you know how much golf I can play for $600? I'll be driving to Charlotte despite the inconvenience.

I think a significant amount of G'ville's vacationer traffic is probably going to other airports.

I'm waiting axiously for GSP to Bangkok. That'll save me a ton of time once a year. It will probably cost me my annual salary though.

[jarvismj]

Just randomly checking airfare, the price on Delta from BOS - GSP is $70 less than BOS - CLT, at a total cost of $325.42. I've searched CHS, CAE, ATL, and AVL, with Asheville being the second cheapest at $339.60

[Spartan]

Traffic at GSP increase slightly from March of last year to March of this year.... it was only by 208 passengers- but at least it wasnt another decline. Though the numbers still reflect a nearly 2% deficit. Hopefully we've seen the last of that decline.

Herald-Journal

[gvillenative]

I would suppose Alligiant Air having something to do with the increase although its not that big. What are they flying like 3 or 4 flights a week as opposed to Independence's 3 or 4 a day. Maybe if they were to bump it up to the level Independence had it there would probably be about the same increase.

[ftrooptiger]

I had opportunity to use the serves of Allegiant Air this past weekend........first a little history.

I am a Clemson Alumi and live in South Florida. We started staying in downtown for football weekends and we both really enjoyed the downtown happening each time we stayed. A couple years ago we bought a place downtown. We generally hike and play in the day only to return back to downtown for dinner/fun.

Flying from West Palm Beach to GSP with 30 minutes drive time to PBI.......almost $1000 for 2

Flying from West Palm Beach to CLT with 30 minutes drive time to PBI and 2 hours to Greenville.......almost $600 for 2

Flying from Orlando to GSP with 3 hours drive time to ORL and 15 minutes to Greenville.......less than $200 for 2

Generally Allegiant is exactly what you requested......transportation. Older jets, clean shells, new leather seats inside. They left on time and arrived early on both legs. The flight up Thursday morning was 90% full and the flight back yesterday was full. It was funny listening to the folks talk before the flights because I bet half of the people were using the flight as a gateway to Greenville/Asheville/Boone/etc for the weekend instead of 100% theme park travel. The return flight had lots of the same faces on it returning from their weekend to the Carolinas.

Bottom line.........yes I would do it again, not crazy about the 3 hour drive to the airport.

[gs3]

It was funny listening to the folks talk before the flights because I bet half of the people were using the flight as a gateway to Greenville/Asheville/Boone/etc for the weekend instead of 100% theme park travel. The return flight had lots of the same faces on it returning from their weekend to the Carolinas.

I enjoyed reading your review of Allegiant. Something that jumped out at me was the above couple of sentences. Most Greenvillians discuss the capacity of flights, passenger numbers and airport operations based on "where we can get to from here". I think Greenvillians tend to forget that the area is a mountain gateway and 50% of the people on any flight are headed INTO our gateway area. I've noticed that South Floridians have a real love for the Greenville / Upstate / Asheville area. Is that because we are the closest area for mountain type activities?

[distortedlogic]

Was just looking on Jetblue's site. Their list of service cities is growing quite rapidly. They have a list of new cities, with service starting between now and July 27th. Sadly, we are not on it. I think I will resubmit my "sugestion" for service; a couple hundred times.

[gvillenative]

Was looking around on Google Earth and it had a clip from Wikipedia about GSP. I just found it interesting that they mentioned that they are attempting to land a low cost carrier such as AirTran or Southwest. I would love a low cost direct flight to the west coast. Maybe San Diego. Me being a beach bum I would be in hog heaven

[gs3]

Hey jarvis, have you heard anymore about JetBlue and Greenville?

Neeleman is stepping down as CEO. Wonder how that impacts their future expansion plans? He was kind of a one man show.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...id=a.6_dImSfaNQ

[jarvismj]

I haven't heard anything about JetBlue, but when I flew out of Logan last, I was told that Comair was looking at making Boston to a hub, but with the possibility of a sale, I don't foresee that happening this year or even next. The closest to GSP that Delta goes in CHS and GSO (Greensboro). Delta serves about 25 cities from Logan right now, and they have about 4 gates that aren't even in use at Terminal A, which is a Delta only terminal. The debate is to lease them to Northwest or expand service to more cities.

I strongly feel that given the current growth in air travel, it will be Delta of some sort, and they would run the CRJ 100 (cigar tube with wings). I haven't dealt with JetBlue, or even looked, so its going to be up in the air. Delta mainline actually pulled out of Manchester, which was a very surprising move, considering that its a little bit bigger than GSP, and has US Air, United, Southwest, and Northwest all flying 737's, 757s, etc, and they only run the CRJ's now. It's going to be interesting to see what happens.

[Greenville]

I haven't heard anything about JetBlue, but when I flew out of Logan last, I was told that Comair was looking at making Boston to a hub, but with the possibility of a sale, I don't foresee that happening this year or even next. The closest to GSP that Delta goes in CHS and GSO (Greensboro). Delta serves about 25 cities from Logan right now, and they have about 4 gates that aren't even in use at Terminal A, which is a Delta only terminal. The debate is to lease them to Northwest or expand service to more cities.

I strongly feel that given the current growth in air travel, it will be Delta of some sort, and they would run the CRJ 100 (cigar tube with wings). I haven't dealt with JetBlue, or even looked, so its going to be up in the air. Delta mainline actually pulled out of Manchester, which was a very surprising move, considering that its a little bit bigger than GSP, and has US Air, United, Southwest, and Northwest all flying 737's, 757s, etc, and they only run the CRJ's now. It's going to be interesting to see what happens.

I am surprised that Manchester is larger than GSP. Has it developed as sort of a backup airport for Boston-area travelers? I do know of some people who choose to fly out of Manchester instead of Logan, especially those who live farther outside of Beantown.

[jarvismj]

I am surprised that Manchester is larger than GSP. Has it developed as sort of a backup airport for Boston-area travelers? I do know of some people who choose to fly out of Manchester instead of Logan, especially those who live farther outside of Beantown.

Yes, it along with TF Green in Providence/Warwick, RI are reliever airports for Logan. I've flown in and out of all three.

I usually tend to fly out of MHT when I can, seeing how I live 15 minutes away (North Andover, MA), and a full hour + out of Boston, but for work, because I fly to internationally, I usually fly Boston to Paris to Tel Aviv.

Air Canada serves all three airports with service to Pearson. If anything, I'd love for GSP to model itself like MHT. That airport is just amazingly easy and simple to get in and out of, and within the terminal its wicked easy. Here are some terminal maps of each respective airport.

Manchester -

Providence -

Notice how PVD is laid out very similar to GSP. That is the airport that I've used to get ideas from when wishing something like a miracle would happen at GSP.

If Southwest came to Greenville or Columbia, I could see them having service to PVD. Also, PVD is getting a rail station being built now on the Northeast Corridor, that will have a skywalk connector between the terminal and the station. Amtrak and the MBTA will be stopping here.

[jarvismj]

I know that gsupstate and myself have mentioned this in passing, but it looks like Virgin America has been cleared for takeoff.

The article is here, and from what I've read, it looks that service will start from SFO to JFK at first, and expand on that shortly thereafter.

EDIT- The cities are listed at the end of the article, and sadly Greenville isn't on that list.

Edited May 21, 2007 by jarvisj3

[gvillenative]

I hate to be a pessimist but as long as people keep driving to Atlanta or Charlotte to "save money" I'm not sure we are going to be on many expansion lists. They want full planes. Quite simply because Atlanta & Charlotte are so "close" and "much cheaper" nobody wants to fly out of GSP, so we can't give them the full planes they want. For the record I agree with them being cheaper, but being too close highly disagree. So much so that I would never waste gas to drive to one of the others. They are only cheaper because of competition. We have none. So airlines here are pretty much free to do as they please and charge us twice as much as the other 2 major airports mentioned above. For example SouthWest flies 757's if I'm not mistaken. Last time I was on an MD-80 to Atlanta out of GSP, the plane wasn't even 1/4 full. We can't fill an Md-80, which is a civilian version of the military C-9, we can't fill a 757 so until then that eliminates SouthWest, so on and so forth. I would love to see these airlines at GSP, I want to remain optomistic, it's just hard sometimes. I will continue to do my part to help which is fly GSP every time I fly. Hopefully we have a breakthrough soon and some good airline decides to give us a chance. I'll be waiting.

End Rant.

[gs3]

I fly weekly with business and actually find that the planes are always full. If you look back at yearly figures, GSP is up in growth and numbers overall (down from the huge blip that Independence Air added). This is true in all medium sized cities that Independence served. It was a low cost / low fare carrier and it drove passenger numbers up in all markets it served. GSP overall is pretty healthy at about 1.6 million a year. There's plenty of competition at GSP and it's the states 2nd bussiest airport in passenger numbers after Charleston (Columbia and Myrtle are 3rd and 4th). It's the kind of competition.....GSP has all the "legacy" carrier brands.......Delta, United, American, Continental, etc, etc and those brands feel little need to compete on price (actually most can't because of their cost structures). I agree GSP needs another low cost carrier to add some true competition.

[Greenviller]

When I fly for work, I fly out of GSP. But when I go to Seattle to visit family, I drive to Atlanta. Why? 50% to 100% cheaper, no contest. As much as I'd like to be a booster for my new home town, I can't afford that price difference. Sorry if you conclude that I don't "do my part," but it's all I can afford.

Gvillenative, I don't understand why you put "save money" in quotes on your message. The savings are real, and for me, necessary if I want to see my grandkids more than once a year.

Edited May 22, 2007 by Greenviller

[wellen]

^^ Just curious, what are you paying to fly from ATL to SEA? I just went out there from GSP and it was a little over $400.

[PalmettoChick]

The prices at GSP are way too high for me. I visit friends of mine in the Rochester, NY area a couple times a year, and this summer I'm going to fly out of Charlotte for the very first time.

Why?

The cheapest one-way flight leaving from GSP is $299.

From CLT? $91.

I'm a frugal college student -- there's no way I can justify $300 on a one-way ticket.

[jarvismj]

I fly Delta exclusively, and again like gsupstate stated, every time I've been on an early AM flight, its almost always booked solid or over booked. There was talk of GSP getting 737s on Delta, but that will only happen if we land a new low cost carrier, because if its JetBlue, then guess what? People don't want to fly Comair's cigar tubes with wings, and they'll go to an A319 or 320, whichever JetBlue flies.

As for fares, its almost become ridiculous with some airports. My friend Mike is flying up here in two weeks from Charleston, and because AirTran just opened up shop there, he's going to be on Delta for round trip $149. So, its just a matter of being patient and waiting for a LCC to set up shop at GSP. Then I won't have to take out a second mortgage to fly down.

Oh, and Southwest flies 737-700's I believe.

[distortedlogic]

It's funny to me how different people report different experiences with GSP. I have flown out of Atl or Clt a couple of times, but most of the time when I price flights (especially if they're not last minute) GSP is comoetitive or even better. For example, I have been pricing flights to China for next spring, and it is chaper to fly from GSP (via Chicago) than to start from eithe ATL or CLT. And when I lived in Colorado, I flew back home several times. I flew into GSP every time because it was either cheaper, or very competitive. I think it all depends on where and when you are going, and how much looking around you do, and how flexible your dates and times are. Otherwise, it is a catch 22 (as we have said before); can't get more options till we get more passengers, can't get more passengers till...

[bradyg23]

Has anyone had luck Pricelining out of Greenville? I did once or twice about 8 years ago and had good luck but haven't done it since then....

I was looking at flying to Chicago in June. Cheapest price out of Greenville shows as $295. Out of Charlotte is $124... BIG difference.

[jarvismj]

Has anyone had luck Pricelining out of Greenville? I did once or twice about 8 years ago and had good luck but haven't done it since then....

I was looking at flying to Chicago in June. Cheapest price out of Greenville shows as $295. Out of Charlotte is $124... BIG difference.

There was a guy that I sat next to from Cincinnati to Boston a few weeks ago who was from Spartanburg, and we were talking about airfare being outrageous from GSP, and he told me that did that bid on airfare from Priceline. With his rental car, he paid $290 roundtrip to Boston. The only downside to that is he griped about not getting any skymiles, which you don't on those cut rate trips.

I'll fly into GSP simply because usually the cheapest fares require me to be at Logan at 4AM, and I don't want to deal with CLT or ATL traffic and driving two - three hours back to Greenville. I can get a ride from GSP without having to ask at this point. If anyone is praying for JetBlue to go from Boston to Greenville, its me. Hell, I'd be glad to see JFK - GSP, because I can easily take the Acela down to New York.

[linkerjpatrick]

I used priceline a while back (don't fly very often) when I needed to fly to Pensacola to go to my sister in-laws graduation. The best deal we got was out of Asheville. To be perfectly honest I really enjoyed flying out and back into the Asheville Airport and the scenery out the window between Asheville and Atlanta was nice.

[StrangeCock]

$75 is the difference at which I will drive to Charlotte to save money. Anything less and it's just worth the extra dough to fly out of GSP. But anything more and it's just not worth the convenience. Unfortunately, I can almost NEVER find a flight out of GSP that's that competitive. Almost every time, I fly out of CLT.

[jarvismj]

$75 is the difference at which I will drive to Charlotte to save money. Anything less and it's just worth the extra dough to fly out of GSP. But anything more and it's just not worth the convenience. Unfortunately, I can almost NEVER find a flight out of GSP that's that competitive. Almost every time, I fly out of CLT.

For me, its got to be a savings of more than $200 to $300+ to fly out of CLT. I take into consideration the fact that driving there means I have to leave early, I have to pay for parking, usually more than what I would in the back lot at GSP, and well, I simply hate driving. I love GSP because I have to be there no less than 35 minutes to departure, and my bags make it on the plane, and even in that little time frame, I'm still very much relaxed and not in a rush. Both AirTran and Delta at CLT aren't very busy, and they're in the same terminal/concourse, but the thing that turns me off is the drive up there. I guess it would be different if I lived in Cherokee County, or somewhere closer, but thats just me.