Centerlines - April 2008 - (Page 36) PADDING THE PORK B Y N ICOL E N E L S ON A I R S E R V I C E R E C R U I T IN G Incentive dollars, increased catchment area lure Frontier to Baton Rouge A K t i Impact Katrina I t ttracting air service can be like “selling a skinny pig at the fair.” It is just hard to draw the interest to the runt. The county fair tale of Anthony J. Marino has a happy ending for his airport, Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport. In recent years, the skinny pig has grown plumper, making an easier sell in the heart of southeastern Louisiana. ON Aug. 15, Frontier initiated service at BTR with two daily departures and two daily arrivals on 76-seat Embraer 170 regional jets. Since operations commenced, the carrier has maintained a 78 percent load factor. When Hurricane Katrina hit the Louisiana shoreline in August 2005, Baton Rouge recognized an opportunity to potentially acquire the air service abandoned when neighboring Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was devastated by the storm. “We contacted all of the airlines in New Orleans, including the low-fare carriers,” said Marino, the aviation director of the Greater Baton Rouge Airport District. “We didn’t want them to leave Louisiana because once the equipment is reallocated to another city, chances are it will take a long time to get them to come back.” Despite the fact that the carriers turned down Baton Rouge on its initial offer, the airport did in fact benefit. Since Katrina, the Baton Rouge catchment area has grown in area to now include territory previously dominated by New Orleans. Baton Rouge is now more attractive to low-fare carriers. After Katrina, Baton Rouge enplanements jumped 106 percent and stayed there for months. S.C.I. Research studied the market and conducted interviews with 46,000 passengers to canvas a good cross section of the market. Based on these surveys, the study predicted that by late 2006 Baton Rouge’s growth would level at 35 percent. The study understated the demand — the airport’s growth in 2007 has managed to remain steady at nearly 45 percent. “The legacy carriers will service both Baton Rouge and New Orleans, but you will rarely see the duplication in those markets with low-fare carriers,” Marino said. “When our catchment area grew, we knew an opportunity was there for us with the low-fare carriers.” “The market is looking good, the loads are high, and we think Frontier has found a home in Baton Rouge.” — Greater Baton Rouge Airport district aviation director Anthony J. Marino 36 CENTERLINES | APRIL 2008
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