The market is there Fri-Sun. The business climate in Atlantic City is horrid, to put it nicely.
that's the key piece. no business market, no profit. leisure travel doesn't really make much of a profit, hence why ACY doesn't see much service. the money is in PHL. and ACY is close enough, that you can just drive down.
As a former casino guy, I can't begin to tell you how many Ohio driver's licenses I used to see at the front desk, concierge desk, and on the casino floor. CLE-ACY on a CO ERJ would make a killing if the airlines could convince the gaming populace that flying is better than taking a bus, as many of them do now.
ACY-MCO on FL has some great departure times from ACY, and the ACY-YYZ service is great except for that it's horribly timed. I'm a huge Devils fan, and would consider a cheap flight to YYZ to see the Devils and Leafs play, but with the WestJet flight timing I would have to stay two nights.
Agreed with your flight times comment, NK has the same issue with their new Boston service, to go to Boston for a game or anything, you need 2 nights min.
that's the key piece. no business market, no profit. leisure travel doesn't really make much of a profit, hence why ACY doesn't see much service. the money is in PHL. and ACY is close enough, that you can just drive down.
And hopefully one day if the NJ Transit AC Line expands (double-track to improve frequency), it would negate the need for ACY, unless PHL demand ramped up so much that ACY would capture some share that PHL can't handle. Anyways, things aren't looking too hot in PHL, and the last thing they would want is SJTA competition from ACY.
"Southwest Airlines Co. will discontinue nonstop service from Philadelphia to Columbus, Ohio, and San Antonio, Texas, on Nov. 1.
Southwest, the second busiest carrier here, will schedule one fewer flight a day from Philadelphia to Jacksonville and Orlando, Fla., Manchester, N.H., Phoenix, and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., while adding a daily flight to Denver and West Palm Beach, Fla."
So there goes the cheap fares to Ohio from the Philly area and vice versa, as its likely US Airways will increase prices on that route. US Airways was matching Southwest with $49 one-ways.
One would now have to stop in Midway/Chicago (longer flight duration total, goes west, then back east - equaling the drive time), or just drive take a train down to BWI to stick with Southwest.
If FL can fly ACY-ATL, and have their operation in PHL running PHL-ATL, I don't understand why US doesn't jump into ACY with Dash 8's to PHL (like they do from ABE), and maybe one RJ to CLT. The only way I think Chicago will be seen is if it is UA or AA running RJ's, but I really doubt they have an interest in ACY (unfortunatley)
US used to run that route.
I'm guessing US PHL-ABE route works, because Allentown-Bethlehem metro doesn't have great bus and train connectivity into Philadelphia like Atlantic City does. And PA roads are smaller. Also, I think ABE gets a share of passengers that would otherwise travel to Wilkes Barre-Scranton Airport.
Anyways if one is in the Atlantic City area, they can get service without train too:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rtalk25
Anyways if one is in the Atlantic City area, they can get pretty instant service without train too: RapidRover is a shuttle service between South Jersey and PHL: http://www.rapidrover.com/
Rapid Rover is horribly overpriced for private transportation, and if you use their shared ride service, it is just as, if not more poorly timed that the absolutely crappy train timings that do not pair with SEPTA R1 to get to PHL. Rapid Rover is far from instant if you live more than about 15 minutes from PHL.
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Agreed with your flight times comment, NK has the same issue with their new Boston service, to go to Boston for a game or anything, you need 2 nights min.
I'd think this is somewhere JetBlue could consider. An AM flight to BOS, and overall better service into BOS over NK.
JetBlue might make sense since they are concentrated heavily in the NY area, and ACY isn't too far if they ever needed to re-route passengers, who probably would find ground transportation back home. When the freezing storms hit the NY metro a couple years back, JetBlue routes were choked. ACY's weather is usually 5-10 degs warmer during NorEasters.
Rapid Rover is horribly overpriced for private transportation, and if you use their shared ride service, it is just as, if not more poorly timed that the absolutely crappy train timings that do not pair with SEPTA R1 to get to PHL. Rapid Rover is far from instant if you live more than about 15 minutes from PHL.
The best option of course is to be dropped off by somebody you know. Close to that alternative, if you don't have a car of your own to park, there isn't a whole lot of other options. Perhaps take transit to Airport to rent a car the day before flight, to drop it off the day of flight if early morning flight. I think with rental car rates around $50-$60 (with all other costs), it may be cheaper than RapidRover which goes about around $90 for a chartered non shared ride.
You're right that Rapid Rover is overpriced, but any flight on a Dash 8 is very expensive as well, and would be built into the ticket price.
For example, flying from ABE to CLE via US Airways on Nov. 3, the flight is $165/one way. The flight direct from PHL to CLE is $49, so one is paying over $100 for not having to drive to PHL and flying directly from ABE to have the Dash 8 experience.
Taking trains in the morning (PATCO - not all stations are handicapped w/ elevators, escalators are sometimes turned off, then walking thru the Gallery, SEPTA R1) for early morning flights doesn't work. Train frequency is low, fitting bags on the train is also a problem.
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Atlantic City airport takes marketing to new heights
Atlantic City International Airport is taking a few shots at some of its bigger competitors.
It is using billboards outside of Philadelphia International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport to deliver a simple message to travelers using those facilities: "You'd be there by now. It's about time. Fly ACY."
AirTran could also do ACY to BOS service (forget Spirit) and SJTA could just waive all landing fees to AirTran, and market AirTran all the way.
However, I think ABE to BOS service from AirTran may make more sense. AirTran wouldn't be directly competing with any of the legacy carriers so wouldn't have to price themselves too low. I think ABE has a larger area to pull from also than ACY : Lehigh County, Northampton, some of Montgomery Co. PA (huge county), Luzerne County-Scranton market, Northwest NJ). I'm thinking of this type of market: some affluent ex-New Yorkers who live in NW NJ, NE PA, or those by between ABE and Philly's Main Line, who want to fly direct to BOS, but want something less hassling than flying from EWR and a cost alternative to PHL to PVD.
No highway tolls to ABE from any of these locations. And the Lehigh Valley internally has no train transit to New York or Philadelphia, which works in favor for ABE air travel, esp those that live in PA.
AirTran offers BOS service from Akron, OH, Newport News, VA and Milwaukee. However the one negative factor in case of ABE, its roughly 5 hours drive time to Boston metropolitan area, which may make it too close and soften demand.
But heres the idea: start BOS-ABE-ATL (2 flights daily), then eliminate 2 daily PHL-ATL flights as ATL would be oversaturated from this area, and possibly start 2 PHL-GSP flights
RE: SJTA advertising by Philly and Newark Airport
What benefit would someone in Philly, PA drive into NJ, or those in North New Jersey forced to take Garden State Parkway all the way, and have to pay tolls in order to fly from ACY? I think ACY can really only attract Southern NJ, and Southern NJ has train service into Philly (although limited now, but calls for expansion).
I'm surprised SJTA isn't placing its billboard ads on PATCO stops and trains for ACY airport instead. It'd make a lot of sense given that PATCO ends where the NJ Transit AC Line runs. The airport is then a taxi cab away from Absecon station.
