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Boofer

Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 07:06:51 pm

Boofer
Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

I was in RIC last week. They're going through a terminal expansion and remodeling project. Kind of messy - pax have to walk through hallways lined with plywood, with dust flying and ductwork exposed. The rental car counters are tucked back behind the escalators. The terminal I flew out of was already finished, however. Nothing spectacular, but decent, with wide walkways and bright lighting.

They've got two terminals, with 8 gates in terminal A and 14 gates in terminal B. And most interesting - with the expansion project, they added an international arrivals facility at one of the gates in the B terminal - it doesn't look like it's ever been used. They've got 8 airlines serving RIC: AA, DL, NW, CO, UA, US, FL (Airtran), and JetBlue starting March 31st. The most striking thing about RIC - it's regional jet city. I left last Thursday morning on a 6 am flight, and it appeared that every plane there was an RJ, with the exception of a US 737 and a DL MD80. Lots of flights, but almost all are to hubs via RJs.

It got me thinking about how fortunate we really are to have the kind of service we have in IND. The new terminal will put RIC's facility to shame. And as we've tallked about, our 40 gates seem like they might be too few by the time the terminal opens. RIC had about 2.9mm pax (one-way) last year, compared to our 8+mm. (Granted, Indy metro is much more populous, but the rural areas around RIC could draw many more pax, I would think).

All in all, RIC is a decent airport, and properly sized for that city. But the new IND terminal will be in another class altogether.

This trip was IND-CLE-RIC (overnight) -CLE-MSY-IAH-IND.

Next week - IND-MSP, MCI-IND. A week after that is IND-IAH-SAN-EWR-IND.

Can I get a peanut crumb with that thimble of Coke?

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