Quote:
Originally Posted by mello
I'm surprised no one has brought this up. Its not like the airport is at capacity and everyone is saying "we could have better service if we had a big facility at Miramar". So what is keeping us from having a Beijing/Shanghai, Seoul, Hong Kong, etc. flight now?? Our Europe coverage I guess could be a bit better maybe adding a Paris or Amsterdam but as it stands it is decent I suppose.
Its not like all the gates are always full so what gives? Like ATX guy said we are a major destination and the Airport Authority is always reaching out to these foreign airlines saying "hey remember us, we are San Diego please fly here!!"
Are they not coming here because we don't have 2 parallel runways? When you look at our terminal layout there are lots of gates after the T2 expansion and more coming with T1.
**** Example Note: SeaTac according to the count I just did has 78 gates, SAN has 56 (I'm counting all spots where planes can dock, from twin prop stuff for hopping to LAX or Emirates gates flying to Dubai) SeaTac does 2.5 the passenger load SAN does with only 22 more gates so there is room for us to add more International Flights.
|
I'm not the authority on airline operations, but there are other factors besides gates and runways that impact service.
Below are a number of factors...many of which SAN fairs poorly. A relocated airport would solve almost all problems, except feeder traffic, but solving these problems would create the conditions for more feeder traffic. Essentially, a relocated airport could solve virtually every issue.
1. Airport Hours/Curfew (result of location of SAN)
2. Space for overnight aircraft (minimal at SAN)
3. Space for aircraft maintenance (minimal at SAN)
4. Local O&D traffic (not really a problem San Diego is a decent size market)
5. Feeder traffic (feeder traffic supports additional international flights...however not being a hub hurts feeder traffic relative to hub airports)
6. Gates (SAN has a respectable number of gates)
7. Crew bases (SAN is not a hub, so minimal crew bases)
8. Payload capability (certain aircraft like 747/A340, etc are weight restricted out of SAN, meaning they have to carry less people or cargo. This makes routes less profitable and can be the difference between getting or not getting a route)