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Delta adding non-stop service between Syracuse and Minneapolis
According to The Post-Standard, Delta will add one daily non-stop flight between Syracuse and Minneapolis beginning on September 6. Hancock International Airport has not had direct service between Minneapolis-St. Paul International since Northwest Airlines dropped the flight in 2005.
With the connection to Minneapolis, Syracuse will have direct service to the following cities:
1.) New York (JFK and LaGuardia)
2.) Newark, NJ
3.) Chicago
4.) Atlanta
5.) Philadelphia
6.) Washington, DC (Dulles)
5.) Detroit
6.) Cleveland
7.) Cincinnati
8.) Orlando
9.) Boston
10.) Minneapolis
11.) Toronto
12.) Charlotte
Darn. I have to be in Minneapolis for a wedding one week before that. No single-seat ride for me.
Very nice news; don't know how popular a destination MSP is for Central New Yorkers, but it's certainly good for Hancock to get more direct connections.
I was extremely happy to see this yesterday. Awesome for Hancock & Central NY. Rochester & Buffalo have long had this service and never lost it when SYR did 7 years ago.
It has been frustrating to see ROC & BUF remain strong in the air industry with direct flights to more cities and more competition between airlines.
It doesnt even need to be mentioned, Southwest is allowing Buffalo to boom. The airport's air travel is the best in Upstate NY. And AirTran is making Rochester succesful. The airline has a huge stake in RoC, and now it has officially been confirmed in recent news that Southwest will begin service to Rochester when the takeover of Airtran is complete.
The thought of Southwest 737's possibly flying into Rochester on a regular basis and not SYR is BEYOND frustrating for me. Airport officials at Hancock have been trying desperately to land Southwest, but to no avail. Its going to take severe transformation and growth in our region to make Syracuse attractive for Southwest, especially with ROC 80 minues away.
So for the time being, we need to look at what SYR can do to suceed without Southwest/AirTran. Landing Minneapolis is a big part of that, but only the beginning.
I believe Syracuse must sell itself to jetBlue, and really market itself as the best destination for new growth.
Okay given, this article is almost 2 years old now, yet jetBlue know the infrastructure and demographics are there for continued growth at Hancock. Currently JB serves NYC & Orlando. That Orlando flight was taken from ROC and transfered to SYR. That was a huge victory for Syracuse over the rest of Upstate, and one of the few.
Another victory: I also studied Delta's takeover of US Airways flights to LaGuardia. SYR was the only airport to GAIN a flight to NYC at its airport.
ROC & BUF each lost a flight in the deal, and ALB lost 3 flights I believe.
So back to jetBlue, the airline currently serves Buffalo Int'l very well: flights to NYC, Boston, Orlando, Ft. Meyers, and Ft. Lauderdale. Thats 5 destinations when Hancock only serves 2!!! (It really helps when you have 1.1 Million people in your Metro as opposed to 760,000 in CNY.)
The difference, and potential benefit for Hancock is that it does not have AirTran or Southwest. There is more potential for jetBlue to have success in Syracuse by growing its market share here rather than competeing with other low cost airlines.
So I would love to see SYR land a flight to Boston very soon (Boston was mentioned in the P-S article), and regain Ft. Lauderdale. We had Minneapolis, and we lost it. In the same way, we lost Lauderdale, but we can get it back. And possibly even add a flight to Ft Meyers or even Tampa, where JB serves has several flights to.
Delta clearly saw something profitable when deciding bringing back its MSP service. Syracuse and Central New York has changed and is growing in the last 7 years, so hopefully jetBlue's CEO will re-examine its market in SYR and realize the potential there is to be had with more flights to Hancock.
Again, I know we don't have SW or AirTran, but we have to make best with what we've got, and use it to out advantage.
So back to jetBlue, the airline currently serves Buffalo Int'l very well: flights to NYC, Boston, Orlando, Ft. Meyers, and Ft. Lauderdale. Thats 5 destinations when Hancock only serves 2!!! (It really helps when you have 1.1 Million people in your Metro as opposed to 760,000 in CNY.)
ese522 - I agree with your post, but (according to CEO David Berger) Syracuse serves a "catchment" (service) area of approximately 2 million people, see link below. I posted the following on August 11, 2010, things have changed since them i.e. an Airport Authority has been established that is addressing some of that uncompetitiveness:
Jetblue CEO David Berger was in Syracuse and says that Hancock can handle more flights. However, he did say that Hancock International is uncompetitive based on the way arilines and cargo carriers are charged. He added that Hancock serves an "catchment" of 2 million people stretching from Canada to the Finger Lakes to the Southern Tier.
It seems Jetblue (like Urban Outfitters) are doing their homework on Syracuse, I was impressed by David Bergers knowledge of Empire Airlines. I am also pleased that he cited Mayor Miner and the business community and likes what he hears. Maybe that means they are serious about the airport, but that remains to be seen.
I would add one more city to the list of locations mentioend, that would be Las Vegas. I remember (now defunct) TransMeridian Airlines flying to Las Vegas when I lived out there. The flights were booked and they added 757 service from Hancock shortly before they went under.
Last edited by urbanplanner; 04-26-2012 at 11:18 AM..
Direct flights from SYR to MSP are supposed to start 9/6. Thought I would check the prices between flying out of SYR and ROC. This is where they stand as of today.
It looks like US Airways is starting to close the gap and make it worth flying out of Syracuse. Hopefully once Delta starts their non-stop it will make a difference in pricing.
Flights from Syracuse, NY (SYR) to Minneapolis, MN (MSP) Flights - Google Search
Depart Thu September 6
Return Wed September 12 Nonstop- Delta Delta 2h 30m from $358
(With Stops)All flights
US Airways US Airways 4h 20m+ from $295
United United 4h 10m+ from $379
American American 4h 15m+ from $379
Flights from Rochester, NY (ROC) to Minneapolis, MN (MSP) Flights - Google Search
Depart Thu September 6
Return Wed September 12 Nonstop- Delta Delta 2h 15m from $226
(With Stops)All flights
US Airways US Airways 4h 35m+ from $247
AirTran AirTran 5h 25m+ from $247
Other airlines Other airlines 3h 50m+ from $262
I hope so, as it may help keep people from going to Rochester, Albany or Buffalo to take flights. It may help in terms of revenue too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ToeJam
Direct flights from SYR to MSP are supposed to start 9/6. Thought I would check the prices between flying out of SYR and ROC. This is where they stand as of today.
It looks like US Airways is starting to close the gap and make it worth flying out of Syracuse. Hopefully once Delta starts their non-stop it will make a difference in pricing.
Flights from Syracuse, NY (SYR) to Minneapolis, MN (MSP) Flights - Google Search
Depart Thu September 6
Return Wed September 12 Nonstop- Delta Delta 2h 30m from $358
(With Stops)All flights
US Airways US Airways 4h 20m+ from $295
United United 4h 10m+ from $379
American American 4h 15m+ from $379
Flights from Rochester, NY (ROC) to Minneapolis, MN (MSP) Flights - Google Search
Depart Thu September 6
Return Wed September 12 Nonstop- Delta Delta 2h 15m from $226
(With Stops)All flights
US Airways US Airways 4h 35m+ from $247
AirTran AirTran 5h 25m+ from $247
Other airlines Other airlines 3h 50m+ from $262
What weather has to do with this, I don't know, but I hope this happens. Minneapolis-St. Paul is a major airline hub and corporate area.
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