Nashville, Memphis among nation's cheapest airports (Knoxville, Greeneville: 2015, hotel, live in)

[JMT]

The web site cheapflights.com has listed the average air fares for the 101 most-searched airports in the U.S. Both Nashville and Memphis moved up dramatically from 2015 and are, by far, the cheapest airports in Tennessee. The only other airport to make the list, Knoxville, dropped 6 spots since 2015 and is now the 2nd most expensive airport in the country, at least of the country's 101 most-searched airports.

Here's how they rank

airport...avg. airfare...2016 rank...2015 rank
Nashville (BNA)...$273...24...79
Memphis (MEM)...$287...28...46
Knoxville (TYS)...$543...100...94

The full report:

2016 Airport Affordability Report | Cheapflights

[Drift Away]

Anyone know why Knoxville's airport is so expensive?

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by Drift Away

Anyone know why Knoxville's airport is so expensive?

A lot of airports with fewer destinations and little competition tend to tilt to the expensive side.

For example, Nashville (BNA) has 13 carriers and ~54 destinations and a passenger volume of over 12.2 million, while Knoxville (TYS) has 5 carriers and ~21 destinations and a passenger volume of about 1.7 million. It's not always true, but competition tends to lead to lower fares.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by nashvols

A lot of airports with fewer destinations and little competition tend to tilt to the expensive side.

For example, Nashville (BNA) has 13 carriers and ~54 destinations and a passenger volume of over 12.2 million, while Knoxville (TYS) has 5 carriers and ~21 destinations and a passenger volume of about 1.7 million. It's not always true, but competition tends to lead to lower fares.

In the case of TYS, it is interesting that, even though Knoxville's largest carrier is el-cheapo Allegiant, TYS still has ridiculously high air fares. Plus, of the 21 non-stop destinations from TYS, some are to secondary (read: out-of-the-way) airports which should also be cheaper: Sanford instead of Orlando, Saint Petersburg-Clearwater instead of Tampa, Punta Gorda instead of Fort Myers. One of the reasons I eventually left Knoxville was because I got tired of paying through the nose to fly on reputable airlines. It's not uncommon for families in the Knoxville area to drive all the way to Nashville or even Atlanta; at a couple hundred dollars in savings per person, it's worth the drive.

In the case of Memphis, the demise of Delta's hub there has been a very mixed blessing. While MEM has gone from 12 million to fewer than 4 million passengers, lost 64 nonstop destinations, and went from over 300 flights a day to fewer than 90, some of the lost destinations have been brought back with low-cost carriers such as Allegiant, Frontier, and Southwest. A big difference, though, is that while Delta may have had three flights a day between Memphis and, say, Austin or Denver, the low budget airlines have just one, or not even a daily flight, and on smaller aircraft. But it has helped bring down the price of air fares at MEM quite dramatically.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by nashvols

A lot of airports with fewer destinations and little competition tend to tilt to the expensive side.

For example, Nashville (BNA) has 13 carriers and ~54 destinations and a passenger volume of over 12.2 million, while Knoxville (TYS) has 5 carriers and ~21 destinations and a passenger volume of about 1.7 million. It's not always true, but competition tends to lead to lower fares.

It also has a bit of a captive clientele. You can fly out of Nashville, but it is a 3 1/2 hour drive and 4 to Atlanta. Makes it hard to fly from either without at least an over night hotel at least once, plus fuel, etc. I fly from Nashville and I live near Knoxville.

[eastmemphisguy]

I love the Memphis airport. We don't have the crowds and lines that you find in bigger airports
And it's super easy to get to from 240. Between Delta dehubbing us and oil prices dropping, the cost of flying has really dropped. And we still have direct flights to most major domestic destinations. Wish we'd get San Francisco, Boston, and Seattle though.

[Hey_Hey]

I think de-hubbing may have been the best thing for Memphis in the long run. Short term it hurt big time, but long term will probably be better. Cheaper airfare to major destinations is likely more valuable than being able to fly to regional destinations nonstop (Lexington, Huntsville, Birmingham, Baton Rouge, etc).

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by Hey_Hey

I think de-hubbing may have been the best thing for Memphis in the long run. Short term it hurt big time, but long term will probably be better. Cheaper airfare to major destinations is likely more valuable than being able to fly to regional destinations nonstop (Lexington, Huntsville, Birmingham, Baton Rouge, etc).

With the way MEM is adding airlines and passengers, I tend to agree. And some of those regional destinations might be added back over time (if there is enough demand).

[KathiOH1]

I asked why TYS is so expensive. Don't know if this is accurate, but someone told me that because DENSO is a big "customer" of the airport and pays whatever is posted, the airport prices are set higher than normal.

The other problem with TYS is that a large portion of flights get delayed or canceled. Flying out of of TYS to a connector is a big risk of not arriving on time, so...

We drive whenever we can and if we have to go far, we drive to BNA or ATL and get direct flights at half the price.

[jabogitlu]

Knoxville also lacks the customer base. My folks live in Greeneville and when I come to visit, it's so much cheaper to fly into Atlanta and ride the Mega Bus to Knoxville, that I can't justify the price of a ticket to TYS. It's kind of a chicken and egg situation. They don't have the ridership to bring prices down like larger airports.