SRQ Changes Incentives to Favor Airlines that Add New Cities

Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport hopes to gain future destinations by promoting incentives for airlines that offer a variety of stops.

The airport authority passed the policy Monday for promotion of new air service.

The old promotion, a four-year-old program, offered airline carriers a $9 credit per boarded passenger for any new service from an existing carrier or a new carrier to any destination in the country for one year.

The new adjusted policy offers the $9 credit per boarded passenger only to carriers that offer new destinations at the airport and denies it to those who are just adding another flight to the same location.

"The move is meant to try to fine tune a four-year-old program," said Fred Piccolo, the airport's top executive. "It will get airlines to start thinking about growing their number of destinations instead of offering more service to the same location."

An airline carrier that adds a new destination in the one-year time frame, which starts today, will receive the credit for one year.

Piccolo said the airport currently offers about 10 nonstop destinations and anywhere from 10 to 15 destinations in season, which runs from January through April.

All carriers will still be eligible for a landing fee waiver, which depends upon the weight of the plane. A 60 or 70 percent load factor is usually required.

"That credit averages about $150 per flight," Piccolo said.

But only those that offer new destinations will receive the extra $9 credit per passenger.

Piccolo said a carrier that operates a 737 plane typically pays around $700 per flight for rent and landing fees.

"If you load 100 passengers on a plane, that's a $900 credit," Piccolo said. "So a carrier that takes advantage of the credit can essentially operate a plane for free for one year."

Also Monday, the airport released passenger traffic figures that showed a 14.3 increase for the month of February. Passenger traffic for the year is up 17.6 percent, Piccolo said.

"The addition of AirTran is the primary reason for those numbers," Piccolo said. "It's a positive sign as we head into March and April."

Since its inaugural flight in December, AirTran has added two new flights for a total of five with nonstop service to Chicago and a third Atlanta flight.

Total operation for the month of February is up 27 percent over last year and up 20 percent for the first two months of the year.