Going International ...

... is a growing target for many U.S. airports. More and more, the concept of a new era of international travel is taking root. Two central factors for the movement: Open Skies agreements and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, now under development. The Bush Administration has been very active in pursuing Open Skies agreements worldwide, evidenced most notably with the agreement set to kick in this spring between the U.S. and the European Union. At the same time, business is becoming more globally integrated, thereby connecting international point-to-point destinations due to a local need to connect. Enter the 787, which Boeing expects to being flight-testing this summer. According to the OEM, the company has amassed 857 firm orders valued at $144 billion from 56 airlines for the Dreamliner. Deliveries are expected to begin in early 2009. The upcoming March issue of AIRPORT BUSINESS magazine will feature a look at two airport initiatives targeting international service, at DFW and Boston Logan. DFW, which has labeled 2008 as the Year of the International Traveler, has teamed up with Convention & Visitor Bureaus in the Metroplex to promote the airport as a destination and through-put hub entering the U.S. The program could even include offering marketing assistance to a carrier in its home country. At Logan, officials are preparing to launch a first-ever incentive package to lure international carriers. Consider a few quotes ... Massport CEO and executive director Thomas J. Kinton, Jr.: “The 787 can easily handle the 10,000-foot runway, and you don’t have to try to fill 435 seats – this market couldn’t support that; but we can certainly fill 220 seats. And it’s got the range capability to do something off the East Coast into Asia very easily. “So, I think it is going to change the dynamic where airlines go in the future. It fits many markets that presently don’t have non-stop service.†Joseph W. Lopano, executive vice president, Marketing & Terminal Management for DFW International Airport: “The Year of the International Traveler is a moniker that was assigned by our public affairs guys. What we’re really doing is celebrating a fairly substantial increase in international flying this year versus the past. What we’ve seen, just on the part of American Airlines, is that it’s added four international destinations in one year – Panama City, Panama; San Salvador, El Salvador; Tampico, Mexico; and also London Heathrow, which we’ve been trying to get for a long time. We also have KLM starting a flight to Amsterdam.†Adding to this new dynamic is that fact that U.S. carriers are focusing more and more on international traffic -- much of Delta’s turnaround is credited to its renewed emphasis on offshore destinations. And, one of the key reasons for the merger mania now underway with the airlines is a desire to grow internationally. Thanks for reading. jfi