A small airport that has managed to steal a large chunk of the foreign charter business from Orlando International Airport (OIA), including the largest tour operator Air Tours, has forced its larger competitor to lower landing fees and include more passenger-friendly facilities in a $2 billion expansion programme.
Orlando Sanford Airport is expected to bring in 1.3 million foreign charter passengers this year, while OIA anticipates 600,000. Moreover, the smaller airport, located 50km north of OIA, is proposing a $25 million expansion programme of its own to accommodate more domestic flights and handle the overflow from overseas charters.
The international terminal at Sanford is operated by Orlando Sanford International, a subsidiary of UK-based TBI, which runs as many as 65 charter flights from four different contract carriers a week into the smaller airport during the summer. "Sanford has done a good job of exploiting an opportunity," concedes Egerton van den Berg, executive director of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, which runs OIA. He estimates Sanford's charges are between $4 and $5 per passenger cheaper than those at his own airport. While OIA still attracts business from up to 50 international airlines, its foreign passengers loads are far behind those at Sanford.
As part of a campaign to win back charter market share and re-establish its leadership, a south terminal expansion programme will install US customs and immigration facilities at the international gates, so passengers no longer have to check their baggage twice. The overall $570 million expansion project is expected to be complete by the end of 2002 and will add 16 gates to the existing 94. The new layout will also be more accommodating to help speed foreign travellers in and out of the airport. The new design will make a "huge difference and be significantly more convenient" for foreign visitors, van den Berg says. Of the 28 million passengers that come through OIA annually, about 7% - or roughly 1 million - are foreign visitors, and he expects that to increase to 9% this year. van den Berg believes the 1 million foreign passengers will increase to 1.5 million by year's end.
Source: Airline Business
