![]() ![]() “That is going to make it marketable from an airline standpoint,” he said. According to Rivera, it would cost the airlines about $8-$10 per passenger to run flights out of Manassas, compared to over $15 per passenger at airports like Dulles International or Reagan National. The potential benefit to the carriers is that the airport would be cheaper to operate out of. In the past, Allegiant Air approached the city directly about serving the airport, but Rivera said they wanted the city to foot the bill for the requisite upgrades, something that was effectively a non-starter for the Airport Commission. Destinations, he said, would likely include Florida. Rivera told InsideNoVa last week that any carriers operating from Manassas would likely be budget operators like Spirit, JetBlue or Breeze. “So I think that just adds to the excitement around our shop.” “Our airline partners, multiple of them, are extremely excited about serving this market, and in a way, from the airline side, that I haven’t seen in a while,” he said. Shelby was tight-lipped about what airlines might be considering beginning service at the airport, citing non-disclosure agreements, but he said several are interested. And while Avports would have a 40-year lease on the airport’s terminal building, the improvements its planning would remain city property. ![]() In an interview with InsideNoVa, Rivera said the costs to the city would come in the form of additional operations staff and costs associated with meeting the enhanced federal requirements for commercial airports.Īccording to Shelby’s comments to the council Monday night, the Avports deal would generate at least $700,000 in ground rents for the airport, in addition to increased fuel fees and business tax revenue. ![]() “We want this to be a flagship for us, and we’re going to do it right.” “This is right down the street from our headquarters,” Matt Shelby, Avports’ vice president for business development, said Monday night. The expansion would cost Avports an estimated $75-$125 million. Once that’s underway, the expansion work for phase two would begin, ultimately culminating in a new terminal complete with retail, concessions, expanded parking and more flights. Once that’s complete, Airport Director Juan Rivera said, the terminal could run up to about 10 flights per day. First, the city’s Airport Commission and Avports would convert the existing facility for Transportation Security Administration screening and other commercial security requirements, a process that officials say would likely take between 18 and 24 months. On Monday, representatives from the Dulles Airport-based company laid out their proposal to an eager City Council: The company would enter a 40-year lease for the airport’s terminal and build a 35,000-square-foot addition, enough capacity for as many as 30 commercial passenger flights per day. The Manassas City Council is considering a proposal from airport management company Avports that would bring commercial flights to the city’s general aviation airport within the next two years. Sign up for ’s free email subscription today.Ĭommercial passenger flights could soon be taking off from Manassas. This article was written by WTOP’s news partner and republished with permission.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |