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Air Service Coming to Portsmouth NH

xwhaler

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http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20130820-NEWS-130829997 I don't have much use for a route going to Orlando area but perhaps if it is successful they would consider opening up a 2nd route to Ft Lauderdale. I have family down there we visit on occasion. Supposedly the Florida routes have always been successful for carriers flying out of Pease but the other routes in the network have caused the airline to go out of business.
 

deadheadskier

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http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20130820-NEWS-130829997 I don't have much use for a route going to Orlando area but perhaps if it is successful they would consider opening up a 2nd route to Ft Lauderdale. I have family down there we visit on occasion. Supposedly the Florida routes have always been successful for carriers flying out of Pease but the other routes in the network have caused the airline to go out of business.



They need to upgrade the terminal big time for me to consider flying out of there again. We used Skybus out of there once and the experience sucked. The gave area after you went through security could accommodate maybe 50 people. Problem was there was 100 passengers for the plane. It was so comically crowded with people and their carry ons I wondered how the local fire Marshall approved the business.
 

xwhaler

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They need to upgrade the terminal big time for me to consider flying out of there again. We used Skybus out of there once and the experience sucked. The gave area after you went through security could accommodate maybe 50 people. Problem was there was 100 passengers for the plane. It was so comically crowded with people and their carry ons I wondered how the local fire Marshall approved the business.

If the price/schedule was right I'd personally rather wait in a crowded terminal vs the hassle or getting to Logan/parking etc. I guess one of the big draws for Pease is the free parking they offer. Allegiant is an a la carte airline though so carry on bags are $30, soda costs money, etc. They do let you walk on with a personal item so laptop or backpack you can put under the seat so if you are just looking for a seat it could make sense. I haven't personally been in the terminal though so your experince trumps my opinion at this point!

Be interesting to see how it does---Allegiant is an interesting airline who seems to be doing quite well these days. They act as an airline and travel agency so they control costs/profits by offering some nice air+hotel+vacation bundles.

They already are taking reservations online FWIW.
 

Geoff

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Like every other carrier that's tried Pease, I give it 9 months max before they exit the market. There's simply too much competition in the metro-Boston / Orlando market. You have Southwest out of MHT, BOS, and PVD, JetBlue out of BOS and PVD, Delta out of BOS. That's an awful lot of seats that get discounted down to nothing off-peak.
 

Edd

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Yeah I work on Pease and I'd be thrilled with successful passenger service but put me down as skeptical. People around here want this but I simply doubt that there are enough people.
 

xwhaler

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A route that may work is Pease-Las Vegas. Allegiant is based on Vegas and offer lots of Air+Hotel deals that are attractive.
Quick search indicates that only Jet Blue services Vegas direct from Boston. I think Southwest used to from MHT or maybe still does during certain times of the year.
Maybe they could somehow undercut Jet Blue's prices on this route or make the free parking/low hassle of departing out of Pease the selling point?
They do offer a Plattsburgh NY to Vegas direct so there is some precedent for Northern New England possibly making this viable?

The issue with Sanford is that it is an hour from Disney...any time savings generated by avoiding MHT/Boston is prob gone when you consider you need to get up to Disney.

Maybe a seasonal western ski vacation route could make some sense? Looks like they fly into Telluride, Ogden, Provo, various citites in Montana (Big Sky) Get some good air/lodging/lift ticket bundled package deal going and pehaps it does something.
 

Geoff

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Hartford/BDL is the only Southwest city in New England with nonstop Las Vegas service. Southwest has settled in on Denver as their New England/West Coast hub. That's as far west as you can get from Boston, Providence, and Manchester.

The problem with discount carriers is that they only make money if the flights ALWAYS go out 100% full. During slow times, the big guys lower their fares and the little guys using the oddball airports go out empty. That has been the constant issue at Pease.

With all the highly profitable traffic to Florida during peak ski season, nobody is going to divert equipment to ski flights unless they're subsidized by the ski resort or the destination town. Hayden/Steamboat subsidizes flights, for example.
 

xwhaler

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Bump
Got an email this AM from Allegiant that they are adding a Portsmouth/Pease to Fort Lauderdale route starting 10/1.
This will be 3 cities serviced in FL now from Pease so maybe bookings have been strong?

We have family in Ft Laud so will look into this option when we next travel down there. Anyone taken Allegiant out of Pease yet?
 
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deadheadskier

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I looked into it for a trip to Florida over Thanksgiving weekend. Manchester got my business because of dates/flight times. My Manchester tickets were $80 cheaper for the two of us, but I have to pay parking so it was pretty much a wash.
 

Edd

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How does parking work, flying out of Pease, I wonder? I'd love to do it but FLA isn't on my radar anytime soon.
 

deadheadskier

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When Skybus flew out of there, the parking was free just a short walk to the terminal.

If it wasn't for family, Florida wouldn't be on my radar either.
 
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