Airport adding flights
Mon, Feb 18, 2008
By LINDSEY ADKISONThe Brunswick NewsThe Brunswick Golden Isles Airport has been faced with several challenges, but things are beginning to look up. Delta, which recently dropped the airport's flight schedule to two departures and two arrivals daily, down from four per day, plans to add at least one of the flights back. The purpose of the reduction was to free up airplanes for passengers traveling to seasonal destinations like ski resorts and the Caribbean. Effective immediately, Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) is increasing the number of flights to three – on most days.
Steve Brian, executive director of the airport commission, shows off new self-service ticket kiosks at the Brunswick Golden Isles Airport. Brian is getting ready for the busy travel season. (Michael Hall/The Brunswick News)
| Steve Brian, executive director of the Glynn County Airport Commission, says other airports around the country have experienced similar schedule alterations."Brunswick was one of many airports hit with this temporary cutback," he said. "What helped mitigate the effect on us was that, at the same time, ASA began flying 50-seat regional jets to Brunswick rather than 40-seat regional jets. So we went from 120 to 100 available seats per day."Now with three flights, we're back up to 150 available seats per day."Brian and other Airport Commission officials say a second, largescale airline would provide the greatest boost to the airport. A second airline would give passengers another hub, similar to the one in Charlotte, N.C., which would allow more flights, especially along the Northeast corridor.The airport would benefit from an increased amount of revenue from landing fees and taxes on tickets. "Our best candidate is U.S. Airways," Brian said. "We made a presentation to them last April and have been in talks with them since then. We are told that we're on their list of potential expansion airports." While talks are promising, the full process may take years.Although extra flight opportunities are helpful, another issue must be addressed sooner rather than later: ticket prices, he said. Like other Georgia and regional airports, Glynn County airport fares have been out of line with those of major airports.For that reason, a number of travelers are choosing to fly out of Jacksonville rather than pay extra to arrive or depart from Brunswick. The Airport Commission has been working with Delta to bring 21-day advance fares down to a level comparable with Jacksonville fares. Fares are always changing, but typically flights to or from Brunswick are $30 to $50 higher than Jacksonville's prices. Brian says that will hopefully change. "Our fares are now quite competitive with Jacksonville, especially when free parking and the savings in gasoline are factored in," he said. "We talk frequently with Delta's pricing people, and they have assured us that Brunswick fares will continue to track Jacksonville's."The challenge now is to change perceptions. The public's perception is still that prices are too high and reliability is too low. We need to do a better job of letting locals know that Brunswick's performance is comparable to the competition."Even will all the challenges and setbacks, the airport is moving forward. Performance statistics for January 2008 show a 24.6 percent increase in the number of passengers departing and arriving compared with January 2007, he said.
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