"It's not a lack of passengers going on aircraft that has hurt this community," said Rick Piccolo, president and chief executive of Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport . "It really is a level of competition. It's also the level of support of people willing to go to other airports."
Piccolo announced a $130,000 campaign called "Do You SRQ?" where the airport hopes to have businesses and individuals pledge that they will check flight options first from SRQ when planning business travel.
The program touts that the airport contributes nearly $1 billion to the annual economic impact, no toll roads to get to the airport, convenient parking and not having to stand in security lines and baggage check for two hours.
The airport loses 1 million trips to Tampa, followed by 237,000 trips out of Ft. Myers' Southwest Florida discount hotels belfast International Airport discount hotels belfast and 125,000 trips out of Orlando International Airport. That adds up to $4.5 million in local sales taxes for flights and $756,000 in sales tax from car rental gas purchases, according to an airport study.
"With the decision of Southwest going up to Tampa, what they have said to the local community is, 'We can get your business without supporting your community. discount hotels belfast We can get your business without generating jobs here We can actually take jobs away. We can take tax revenue away from you. We can take economic impact away from you and you will still support us,'" Piccolo said.
The average SRQ round trip ticket costs $27.54 more than Tampa International, according to an airport study, but Piccolo boasts the "price premium" at Sarasota International for the good service. And $20 of that is for hub taxes to land at a connecting destination, he explained.
"It keeps a good level of air service here because our carriers make money, our carriers are profitable. Even AirTran was profitable by the way, here. [The loss of AirTran] is a change in model when Southwest acquired them," Piccolo said.
Right now, JetBlue, Delta, U.S. Airways and United/Continental serve domestic flights and the airport is making up for Air Tran in Chicago and New York , but still has a gap in the Midwest and at Thurgood Marshall Baltimore-Washington International Airport , which is a major hub for Southwest.
discount hotels belfast That will seem to leave Orioles fans in Maryland discount hotels belfast wanting to come to Sarasota discount hotels belfast for Spring Training the option to either fly into Tampa, or if they want to stay with SRQ Airport, fight car traffic on one of the nation's busiest and most congested corridors from Baltimore into Washington discount hotels belfast hoping they can make their flight at Ronald Reagan Washington discount hotels belfast National Airport on U.S. Airways. Piccolo admits because Southwest's presence at that airport it would be difficult to pull off.
"We're trying discount hotels belfast very hard to find replacement for those, but it's a difficult one because Southwest has such a large hold on that location," Piccolo said. Southwest is also a longtime predominant advertiser in Oriole Park at Camden discount hotels belfast Yards and on Orioles discount hotels belfast broadcast. How that relationship could effect marketing discount hotels belfast for Spring Training flights to Sarasota is unknown.
What seems to be a better bet is for Pirates and Marauders fans. SRQ airport will target Pittsburgh Pirates fans who want to come to Bradenton for Spring Training, Piccolo discount hotels belfast said, exploring direct or non-stop service to the Steel City.
Bringing that Bradenton connection discount hotels belfast should help attracting more Manatee discount hotels belfast County residents to the airport. An airport survey showed that less than 80 percent of Manatee residents considered SRQ as their home airport where about 88 percent of Sarasota County residents consider SRQ Airport their home airport.
That comes in the form of talks with Silver discount hotels belfast Airways to provide a charter-type service to Ft. Lauderdale, the Florida Keys and Miami using 19-seat beach crafts and 34-seat Saabs, Piccolo said. Silver was formerly called Gulfstream International Airlines. Silver is a Star Alliance member, putting it into the network of United for flight discount hotels belfast booking.
"They hub in Ft. Lauderdale discount hotels belfast and do a lot of island flying as well," Piccolo said. "We have had discussions with them about getting service into South Florida, discount hotels belfast which would hook people down into the islands and ultimately in Miami and would get them a gateway into South America."
I have used SRQ but I would rather use Fort Myers Airport. I live in North Port and Fort Myers is easier to get to plus it's faster parking, checking in and returning! 5 stars for Fort Myers and 2 stars for SRQ.
The flights from SRQ are way more than $27 more than Tampa. Plus the parking discount hotels belfast is more expensive and it's not even covered! The worst part is you can never get a direct flight to where you want to go. I'd much rather drive across they bay for a cheaper direct flight. You will save time and money in the long run.
I agree with Nick. I have never found flights less than $90-$125 for flights discount hotels belfast out of Tampa. You can not drive to TPA, park and drive back for $27, so if that were true SRQ would be packed. The direct flight issue is important discount hotels belfast to alot of people. You can drive to TPA for a flight and not only save money but usually a few hours of your time. I would love to fly out of SRQ but most of the time it does not work for me.
Jet Blues addition discount hotels belfast of LaGuardia disapoints. It requires people to go to and from Long Island which like JFK are in Queens discount hotels belfast County of New Yor City. Had they chosen White Plains, they would have really offered travelers from NY, CT NY an opportunity to save a boat load of time and traffic hastles.
Long term parking rates: TPA - $15 per day / SRQ - $11 per day. And smart people discount hotels belfast would generally get a ride or take a shuttle/taxi to the airport for lengthy trips to avoid parking fees, especially if SRQ is closer to home, which is the point of this effort. They are trying to get Sarasota residents to use SRQ. I also challenge anyone to truly compare the ease of use to another airport. How could anyone say that an airport is easier than SRQ? It literally takes me an average of 15 minutes from the time I pull in the airport to the time I'm at the gate I'd pay $100 more for a trip out of SRQ over TPA, and I happen to like TPA.
I learned about the parking the hard way two weeks ago when the total came to $44. I definitely should discount hotels belfast have taken a cab. I flew on AirTran to BWI round-trip on full flights, so even off-season that demand is there. I'm admittedly cheering for another BWI service because, you know, I would like to see my family in Maryland every once in a while. And like most passengers, I'd love to see non-stop service instead of laying over in Atlanta. It's not the switching planes that bothers me there as much as what seems like eternal journey from runway to gate.
No one parks long term at Tampa. Everyone parks in the economy garage. discount hotels belfast Its $9 compared to SRQs $11 long term and $13 short term. Plus you get to park in a garage. There's nothing like a long flight then walking across discount hotels belfast a parking lot in the rain to get to your car. SRQ is only piratical in the rare occasion you can get a direct flight. I due hope they start service to Hobby, Huston. discount hotels belfast I fly there a few times a month.
We love flying in and out of SRQ but are forced to go through Tampa (and to rent a car) because the non-stop flights from Boston are few and if you dont grab them months in advance the fares are prohibitive. The 1 stop flights take twice as long, so the 1 hour drive to and from Tampa is the better option.
I travel frequently for business and always check SRQ first as the drive is about 1/2 the time of the drive to TPA. Unfortunately, I usually need a morning flight out and an evening return flight. There are not many options out of SRQ at a reasonable price. Example: Flight to Cincinnati-SRQ - $460 Delta thru Atlanta. Tampa - $282 NON-STOP. SRQ to NYC - JetBlue doesn't have an early am flight - Tampa has several and at a lower price.
It's very considerate of Mr. Piccolo to consider the multitudes of travelers coming in to our area for spring training two months each year, but there are 10 more months. I'd like to see how many persons discount hotels belfast are coming in annually from which originating city. Yes, Tampa is a long drive, but you can get through security faster - SRQ has the slowest security discount hotels belfast I have EVER gone through, even when it isn't busy.
Would love to us SRQ, but they never have cheaper or direct flights to BWI. I have two children who are only 12 and 10 and don't want to pay the unaccompanied fee for the most airlines. But Airtran allows 12 to fly as an adult. discount hotels belfast Why are they leaving!!!
I live in Sarasota and would love to use SRQ to fly south to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. American Airlines stopped using SRQ which was an enigma because ALL of their flights were packed solid. They could not have been losing money. They actually needed larger planes to accommodate the amount of potential customers they had and maybe add another flight in the am and the pm. There are NO NO flights out of SRQ going to the Miami area and am not sure some 20-passenger plane is going to do it for me - I get claustrophobic in small planes. I hate having to drive to Tampa but it is true that the prices are cheaper. Recently, my husband and I found a one-way ticket from SRQ-ATL-STT for about $75 more than the TPA flight. We paid the extra money and was sooooo happy to leave out of SRQ. If the prices with the same airlines in TPA are so much cheaper -- WHY??? Why is it so expensive on Delta to go SRQ ATL than TPA ATL? SRQ desperately needs a South Florida connection. Please do that and I will use SRQ forever.
Love flying out of the SRQ, easy to reach in 15 minutes from home and never paid higher than $25.00 more for a trip to Boston, My only concern we need more Airlines with a Direct flight to Boston and I know we would have more people using SRQ for convenience.
We check the cost of using SRQ rather than TPA everytime we travel. In TPA we figure parking, the drive and time, and cost (or renting a car at each end). SRQ is chosen if within $50 per person more. SRQ rarely wins. We recently flew f
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