With the first major part of the new terminal set to open in only a month or two, and with the air travel market rebounding (and the Miami air travel market prooving to be one of the strongest right now), 2004 is looking like a great year for Miami. In the past year, we finally had all those rumours of "Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, and Las Vegas", which had been doing on endlessly for years, answered. We also saw Indianapolis, Columbus, Charlotte, Punta Cana, Cincinnati. In January we see Richmond and Guanacaste Liberia. Ft. Lauderdale has seen Los Angeles go to four daily flights, not to mention Raleigh, Caracas, Port-Au-Prince, and Santo Domingo. I've always heard rumours of "new MIA service this, new MIA servie that", but it has not been until recently that almost all the rumours have been answered. What do we all potentially see for MIA (and AA's ever growing focus city operation at FLL) in 2004/05?
FLL:
I have heard very strong rumours that another two new destinations are coming: A daily 757 redeye to San Francisco and a daily 737-800 to San Jose, Costa Rica. If so, this would be even more great news. American is currently the #3 carrier at FLL, but is expected to end the year ahead of Southwest as the #2 carrier at FLL.
MIA:
With regards to mainline domestic expansion, here some potentials:
Phoenix - good, large market; underserved from Miami with only HP flying
Kansas City - no non-stops to South Florida; one of the largest O&D market from the area not served non-stop (over 500 people per day)
Providence - no non-stops (sans a Saturday-only WN flight during the winter); over 700 O&D passengers a day. PVD is the largest O&D market from both MIA and FLL not served non-stop. FLL and MIA are the two largest O&D markets from PVD not served non-stop. A perfect match.
San Diego - tried before. A daily 738 could work fine.
Seattle - tried before. Alaska Airlines sure doesn't mind this gap in AA's route map.
San Jose - iffy market. I'm not sure AA wants to give it another go.
American Eagle potential expansion:
Norfolk, Birmingham, Greer, Greensboro, Memphis, Columbia (SC), Gainesville
International:
Valencia, Venezuela: I keep hearing this one is a go and is coming in late 2004.
Frankfurt, Germany: The two-class 763s bring profit potential to this leisure route.
Manchester, England: If AA can get in on it before bmi, more profit potential thanks to two-class 763s.
Brussels, Belgium: Substational O&D market left unfilled here.
Barcelona, Spain: Would finally give BCN residents one-stop connections to Central America. And strong leisure traffic from the US side.
Any other ideas? I know AA's plan is ~330 daily flights by 2007, and the bulk is from more destinations rather than more frequencies. And someone know what the deal is with Guanacaste Liberia service? AA is only planning on serving it between 31Jan04 and 11Apr04. Why so short? Especially with Delta and soon Continental flying there year-round.
FLL:
I have heard very strong rumours that another two new destinations are coming: A daily 757 redeye to San Francisco and a daily 737-800 to San Jose, Costa Rica. If so, this would be even more great news. American is currently the #3 carrier at FLL, but is expected to end the year ahead of Southwest as the #2 carrier at FLL.
MIA:
With regards to mainline domestic expansion, here some potentials:
Phoenix - good, large market; underserved from Miami with only HP flying
Kansas City - no non-stops to South Florida; one of the largest O&D market from the area not served non-stop (over 500 people per day)
Providence - no non-stops (sans a Saturday-only WN flight during the winter); over 700 O&D passengers a day. PVD is the largest O&D market from both MIA and FLL not served non-stop. FLL and MIA are the two largest O&D markets from PVD not served non-stop. A perfect match.
San Diego - tried before. A daily 738 could work fine.
Seattle - tried before. Alaska Airlines sure doesn't mind this gap in AA's route map.
San Jose - iffy market. I'm not sure AA wants to give it another go.
American Eagle potential expansion:
Norfolk, Birmingham, Greer, Greensboro, Memphis, Columbia (SC), Gainesville
International:
Valencia, Venezuela: I keep hearing this one is a go and is coming in late 2004.
Frankfurt, Germany: The two-class 763s bring profit potential to this leisure route.
Manchester, England: If AA can get in on it before bmi, more profit potential thanks to two-class 763s.
Brussels, Belgium: Substational O&D market left unfilled here.
Barcelona, Spain: Would finally give BCN residents one-stop connections to Central America. And strong leisure traffic from the US side.
Any other ideas? I know AA's plan is ~330 daily flights by 2007, and the bulk is from more destinations rather than more frequencies. And someone know what the deal is with Guanacaste Liberia service? AA is only planning on serving it between 31Jan04 and 11Apr04. Why so short? Especially with Delta and soon Continental flying there year-round.
