The Boise Airport wants to add a pair of East Coast cities, including the nation’s capital, to its two dozen year-round nonstop routes and is willing to pay airlines to be the first to offer the flights. Pending future Boise City Council approval, flights between the Treasure Valley and Washington, D.C., and Charlotte will be included on an updated list of destinations the airport seeks to prioritize. The hope is to grow the local air hub’s reach to and from the opposite side of the U.S., airport officials said. “The airport continues to focus on air service development in an effort to recruit additional nonstop air service for our passengers,” Shawna Samuelson, a Boise Airport spokesperson, told the Idaho Statesman by email.
Washington, D.C., is set to make the airport’s wish list as one of its “top unserved destinations” based on passenger travel data, Samuelson said. Charlotte was chosen because of its “strong connectivity up and down the East Coast,” she added. American Airlines and United Airlines, two air carriers at the Boise Airport, each maintain hubs in Washington, D.C. — at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport, respectively. American has another of its hubs at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The two cities will be added to the Boise Airport’s existing list of targeted nonstop routes that already includes: New York City, Boston, Orlando, Honolulu and Anchorage, Alaska, as well as direct routes within Idaho. All are considered “key markets,” with no designated order on the airport’s want list, Samuelson said.
But with the additions of Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, five of Boise’s eight priority routes are located on the East Coast. Passenger demand is driving the renewed push, Samuelson said. East Coast cities account for about 15% of the final destinations for air travelers out of Boise, according to a recent airport study. At present, the farthest east that Boise Airport passengers can fly direct is Atlanta aboard Delta Air Lines’ daily round trip. But that service represents only 3% of the seats available on nonstop flights taking off from the airport, the study found. “We are hoping to narrow that gap to better serve our passengers,” Samuelson said. The focus on the East Coast also comes after JetBlue Airways formally pulled up stakes in Boise a year ago and ended its short-tenured nonstop route to and from New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. The seasonal flight only operated for three months in summer 2021.
In December, Alaska Airlines, the Boise Airport’s primary air carrier, also concluded its daily nonstop flight between Boise and Idaho Falls after just six months. There are no direct flights available between Boise and other Idaho cities, though Alaska continues to provide nonstop flights five days a week to and from the airport in Pullman, Washington, located on the Idaho border adjacent to Moscow. Meanwhile, Delta flies another daily nonstop route east between Boise and Minneapolis-Saint Paul. Alaska, United and Southwest Airlines each also operate flights from Boise to the Midwest. Alaska and United offer nonstop flights to and from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. And Southwest Airlines announced last month that it will restore seasonal nonstop flights between Boise and Chicago’s Midway International Airport on Saturdays starting Sept. 9.
In addition, Southwest will launch weekend flights connecting Boise and Long Beach, California, starting in October. The new twice-weekly route qualifies the airline for the Boise Airport’s financial incentive program, which comes with marketing and discounted fees for use of the terminal and runway. The same program applies to any new or existing airline that commits to a year of at least twice-weekly flights for one of the Boise Airport’s priority routes. Air carriers can receive up to $125,000 in credits toward the typical runway and terminal fees. Airlines qualify for as much as half that amount for providing seasonal service to one of the airport’s priority destinations, or year-round flights on any other route that hasn’t been offered in Boise for at least a year.
Source: Idaho Statesman
