[jzquince69]

MIA will never be surpassed by TPA or FTL in total passengers. They're holding at 31 million per year. MCO was at 31.1 million. MCO can't maintain that rate of growth from 2003-2004 again, but it will steadily continue to grow.

I don't know why the author of that article only lists departing passengers. Who cares? You gotta put the total numbers down--- TPA is at 17 million or so like matt stated.

FYI: O'Hare didn't have CTA trains at their terminal until the improvements they made in the late eighties. Unbelievable, isn't it.

MCO expansion: B/C of the new increase in traffic which got MCO's numbers up from the slump 9/11 caused 4 years ago, the South Terminal Complex is back on the books and will add a new landside terminal one mile south of the existing one connected by a tram (which has already been built) to the original terminal. It will add at least 16 gates initially to the 122 it already has.

If Lynx builds a train to connect MCO to the OCCC, it will be probably the most advanced and complete airport in Florida. If not, the MIA will be numero uno with the MIC and all... MIA's only problem is that it is landlocked, otherwise, it is quite a monster when you throw in cargo traffic. Either way, MCO will always be one of the most efficient major aiports in the world especially now that it built the 4th runway.

 

[jzquince69]

And if airports like DAB (daytona) continue to charge higher landing fees, you're right, SDK4, MCO will continue to gain passengers each year, and the DOTS service to shuttle people from Volusia County to MCO will continue to get good business.

I have a feeling though that MIA, once all these improvements are implemented, will continue an upward spike in passenger growth. Case in point: Detroit built a new massive terminal a few years back and their numbers have gone up from a few stagnant years of no growth. I think MCO and MIA will flip flop a few times the next few years for number 1.

FYI, I learned MCO is also expanding Airside 4 the next couple of years (the newer one) by lengthening the two concourses and adding some more gates.

 

[jzquince69]

I'd like to see that, b/c it will justify the new terminal. But i'd like to see that moreso to see how close its numbers can come to McCarren Intl.'s numbers, since both airports are the leading tourism based airports in the U.S.

 

[jzquince69]

not to mention the fact that those major casino companies like Wynn and the like offer the cheapest rooms possible in 3 and 4 star hotels and the airlines offer fairly cheap ticket prices just to get our wallets over there. However, if 9/11 didn't happen, MCO was really close to McCarren's numbers and could have kept pace-- but you're right regarding the driver's destination factor.

 

[jzquince69]

Here are the numbers I found for the year 2006:
#1 Orlando (34,759,000) traffic up from 2005
#2 Miami (32,533,974) traffic up from 2005
#3 Ft. Lauderdale (19,443,758) traffic down from 2005
#4 Tampa (18,867,541) traffic down from 2005
#5 Ft. Myers (7,643,217) traffic up from 2005
#6 West Palm Beach (6,824,789) traffic down from 2005
#7 Jacksonville (5,946,188) traffic up from 2005
#8 Pensacola (1,597,502) 2005's numbers. 2006 wasn't available.
#9 Sarasota (1,079,815) traffic up from 2005
#10 Key West (couldn't find numbers, but I believe this would be ranked tenth

OSI (Orlando-Sanford Intl.) had 1,645,989 in 2006, which puts it at #8. traffic down from 2005.

 

[jzquince69]

^^
No dedicated International Terminal and here's why. B/C there are a lot of airline alliances now, and if the terminal only has gates for say BA, Virgin, Aer Lingus, and Lufthansa (and perhaps soon Air France), and you need to take a connecting flight via United, Delta, or American, you would have to go back to the landside terminal to connect to the airside with your connecting flight.

What the new South Terminal will have, is 'contact gates' I think that's how they're called-- where the airside and landside are close together -- like in DFW's terminal... in fact, the South Terminal even looks like an inverted DFW terminal. There, you can have a Lufthansa gate, go thru customs, keep your luggage, and then connect within the same terminal quickly.

I imagine the new south terminals will all have the international carriers, as well as some domestic carriers as well.

I think MCO has something like 3 BA flights per day and 3 Virgin flights per day. As of 5 years ago and perhaps today, MCO was Virgin's busiest US hub.

 

[jzquince69]

I can see that Orlando likes to pride itself in having passed airport passenger-ship compared to every airport in Florida, but think about this: a hefty 35 million are flying into and out of Orlando every year. Add the big 3 airports in SoFlo: Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach--> that's more than 60 million passengers pumping money into our economy down here. So yippee-cay-a for O-town, but South Florida still takes the cake for influx of air travelers.

you see the pride based on what? where in this thread did anyone state that they were so proud that OIA jumped to No.1? I challenge you to find it.

since Miami metro is more than twice Orlando's, explain why Orlando has more of an influx of air travelers per capita Mr. Wizard. BTW, OIA + OSI is about 37M passengers. And I don't know who would fly into PB Intl. and drive 70 miles to Miami. By comparison, at least LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark are all within a reasonable distance from each other.

what are you going to bring up next, a compilation of all of Miami metro's convention facilities to try to out-do Orange County CC in business and size? how pathetic.

 

[jzquince69]

speaking of OIA, I recently read that it is on pace to hit 36M passengers this year... a little earlier than expected, which may speed up they're plans for the south terminal expansion project.

 

[jzquince69]

this is the worst gain in raw numbers and growth only matching the post-9/11 nmbers for TIA and a lot of other larger airports are flat. Ft. Lauderdale is doing great, I am sure TIA will gain a higher spot in 2009 due to the large conventions, superbowl, and cost of gas.

TPA needs 3.5M more people to catch FTL. They're not getting that from 1 superbowl and from ... "large" conventions. especially not from the price of gas, since it's also affecting jet fuel prices and ticket prices. besides, a good chunk of the superbowl attendees will be staying at Orlando-area hotels and will be flying into OIA... what is that, 17,000 rooms they claim from Orlando to the superbowl committee to meet their minimum requirements to host the event?