CLT Airport is now selling its 5 proterra buses due to ongoing maintenance issues. It’s apparently very difficult to find parts they need, and several of their buses (that are only 5 years old) don’t even start anymore. Rock Hill has 10. At one point, only 2 were operational and they had to cut a route in its entirety because of these buses.
The reason I mention this is because RDU has 10 proterras in their fleet, and expect to have 22 in the fleet by 2027. By that point, they will ONLY have proterras as the ParkExpress shuttles are contracted out.
And so it begins: A month before the flight’s scheduled take off Avelo Airlines cancels Bahamas flight from Raleigh-Durham due to low demand.
Cancellation comes amid travel industry concerns about consumer spending reduction.
Avelo continues other international flights from RDU to Jamaica and Dominican Republic.
These low cost airlines roll out 2wice a week flights on random days and just expect everyone is going to revolve their trips around their schedule and pounce on them. Never made a ton of sense to me.
I’m unclear what is it you think is happening by “and so it begins” but to be fair, Avelo completely pulled Nassau as a destination of any type. It was more of a Bahamas issue than an RDU issue. They cancelled plans to begin service there altogether. You can see from their destination map here.
They undoubtedly figured out they can make more profit using that Bahamas-bound aircraft in other ways. These ultra-low-cost-carriers make these last minute changes ALL.THE.TIME. It’s like they throw darts at a map and see what sticks. Frontier and Breeze also do this..
Speaking of which: Breeze just announced nonstop RDU-EYW which is Key West. And so it begins, indeed!
Breeze also just filed to serve what is called “Essential Air Service” for 3 small airports in VA and WV, to RDU. Shenandoah Valley Airport in Staunton/Harrisonburg/Waynesboro, Lewisburg, and Parkersburg. All would be nonstop to RDU, presumably for connections elsewhere. EAS are airports that are so small, airlines won’t fly there unless they are guaranteed a minimum amount of earnings regardless of passenger bookings. The government, in their infinite wisdom has decided years ago these small towns MUST have air service even if nobody wants it.
Just like Nassau, you can count on at least a few of these Breeze routes not lasting 90 days, or possibly some never actually beginning at all. Not the EAS routes. other airlines are competing for the EAS service, flying from those 3 airports to different proposed connecting cities, not RDU. Decision to be made “soon.”
It’s right there, buddy. The Fed/current administration is making everything more expensive and causing Americans to have to make tougher decisions about how we spend our money. This ain’t a secret lmao
Birds at airports are definitely no bueno. A bird strike (well probably a bunch, because they were ingested into both engines) caused the US AIrways plane in NY to crash land in the Hudson River in 2009. Airports have all kinds of devices to scare away birds, including cannons, fireworks, etc.
Etihad, Qatar, and Emirates run large hubs. When traveling to southern Africa, central or southern Asia, etc, it’s often more convenient to connect through those hubs than through the traditional European hubs like Heathrow, Paris/CDG, Amsterdam, or Frankfurt. The prices are often lower than on the European airlines, too.
I am not Indian by ancestry but I’ve been all over India on business. An interesting place.
For relative comparison, CLT has 215,000 people going to/from South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern and Southern Africa per year. RDU has 195,000.
has decided years ago these small towns MUST have air service even if nobody wants it.
Dylan
