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It's here folks! Great news for South Carolina. Southwest starts service in both Charleston and Greenville this weekend, with both being a fairly easy drive for all South Carolinians.
A great article from The State on the new service, and some of the expected impact on the tourism industry.
Southwest Airlines landing in South Carolina - Business - TheState.com (http://www.thestate.com/2011/03/11/1732420/southwest-airlines-landing-in.html - broken link)
Didn't realize it was a new route to Charleston, we've booked our tickets from Chicago to Charleston for early May. Price was great plus you don't have to pay for checked luggage.
This should be huge for Charleston.. especially since they are expanding their passenger cruise terminal.
Does anyone know if the first couple of flights that landed were sold out? Just curious. There was alot of advertising in the Baltimore area about being able to go to "South Carolina"...its funny how they lumped both Charleston and Greenville into a more generic SC destination.. but I guess that marketing
From all the news stories in the Greenville area, the flights so far have been right at full capacity. The CEO of Southwest made several statements about how pleased they have been with advanced bookings / reservations as well.
I'm sure the marketing linking Charleston and Greenville to all of SC is for those people living in other parts of SC that will drive to CHS or GSP, or to people flying in, letting them know they can get a good deal to say Columbia, by using GSP or CHS.
Are they being redundant and flying to the same destinations from Greenville and Charleston? If not then Columbia's location between the two should actually be a strong selling point where SW's service is concerned.
From CHS they fly nonstop to: BWI, Midway, Nashville and Houston Hobby.
From GSP they fly nonstop to: BWI, Midway, Nashville, Houston Hobby and Orlando.
This gives Midlands residents in the northern part of the Midlands easy access via GSP and Midlands residents in the southern part of the Midlands easy access via CHS.
Are they being redundant and flying to the same destinations from Greenville and Charleston? If not then Columbia's location between the two should actually be a strong selling point where SW's service is concerned.
For Columbia residents that do not want to use CAE, the best option, regardless of where you live, is Charlotte. Charlotte has direct domestic and international flights to over 130 locations. Even if you have to pay for bags, it makes very little sense to drive to Charleston or GSP and then have to connect. In almost all cases, US Airways is as cheap if not cheaper than SWA.
In business recruitment, close access to direct flights is a much better selling point than SWA and connecting flights.
And the Charlotte Observer had an article yesterday stating that their passenger numbers soared in 2010 and that it is now the 7th busiest airport in the nation. I say hook that Columbia-to-Charlotte train up for some real air service via rail service and no parking expense.
For Columbia residents that do not want to use CAE, the best option, regardless of where you live, is Charlotte. Charlotte has direct domestic and international flights to over 130 locations. Even if you have to pay for bags, it makes very little sense to drive to Charleston or GSP and then have to connect. In almost all cases, US Airways is as cheap if not cheaper than SWA.
In business recruitment, close access to direct flights is a much better selling point than SWA and connecting flights.
I'm gonna have to agree sadly. No reason for Columbia residents to drive to Charleston or Greenville-Spartanburg when Charlotte is just up the road and isn't any further of a drive.
what about Atlanta though? Columbia residents only need to drive down I-20 to get to it and there are much more direct destinations offered from there than Charlotte. It might even be cheaper than flying out of Charlotte a lot of times also.
Last edited by g-man430; 03-18-2011 at 05:06 PM..
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Columbia residents only need to drive down I-20 to get to it and there are much more direct destinations offered from there than Charlotte. It might even be cheaper than flying out of Charlotte a lot of times also.
