HomeMy WebLinkAbout15. Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE) Update on Key Trends & OpportunitiesAspen / Pitkin County Airport (ASE)
Update on Key Trends & Opportunities
Bill Tomcich –President, Stay Aspen Snowmass
Air Service Development Consultant, Fly Aspen Snowmass
Winter ‘16/17 Review
Operational Reliability:
•Overall completion % perfectly even with last winter –94.0% of scheduled flights landed at ASE
•Delta had the highest completion at 96.9%, United slipped to 93.6%, American improved to 93.7%
Total Flown Capacity –also even with last winter:
•Total # scheduled flights turned out to be down -1.7%
•Most CRJ700 aircraft were reconfigured from 63-65 seats to 69-70 seats.
•Actual overall flown capacity Dec-Apr was almost dead-even with last year (down -0.1%)
•Dec & March capacity was up ~10%, Jan & Feb capacity was down 5 -6%, April was down -20%
Winter Performance by Airline:
•American: Capacity was up +15%, load factors were up 7% to 76.0% -VERY STRONG
•Delta: Capacity was up +154%, load factors were down -22% to 66.3% -NOT BAD in light of new capacity
•United: Capacity was down -10%, load factors were down –1.3% to 70.5% -GOOD but share continues to decline
Winter Enplanement Trends
Five Consecutive Years of Modest Winter Growth
69.4%73.5%75.4%
74.8%
74.9%61.6%
64.9%66.0%
61.6%
73.5%73.0%
70.8%
71.6%71.9%
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
Total Ski Season EnplanementsASPEN / PITKIN COUNTY AIRPORT (ASE)
Delta
Frontier
Northwest
AW / US Express
American
United
Total:
Series5
Bombardier CRJ700
The CRJ700 is now the only commercial aircraft flying into ASE, and it’s
now being flown exclusively by SkyWest for American, Delta and United.
PARTNER UPDATES
AMERICAN:
•Summer resumes June 2 with three flights daily from three hubs (DFW, ORD & LAX), same as last summer
•LAX will continue through Sep 5, both DFW and ORD will continue through Oct 4.
•American will take a break from ASE from Oct 5 –Nov 4, DFW daily will resume Nov 5.
•Beginning Dec 15, American will return with a total of seven flights daily from four hubs with new nonstop service
from PHX, plus a second daily nonstop from Chicago timed to allow inbound connections from London,
Manchester, Paris and Madrid. This is represents a 52% capacity increase over this past winter!
DELTA:
•New summer service from SLC & LAX (3x per week) begins June 10.
•2nd daily SLC now loaded Dec 15 –Jan 7; all winter other capacity remains unchanged except that all flights will
continue through April 2 instead of March 26. This represents an overall capacity increase of 7% at this point.
•Future capacity increases will almost certainly be dictated by this summer’s performance.
UNITED:
•Summer nonstop service from ORD, IAH, LAX & SFO resume June 8, along with a 6 th daily flight from DEN.
•Two additional daily flights from DEN begin July 1. IAH will end Aug 14, SFO will continue through Sep 4, LAX
through Oct 3, and ORD through Oct 27.
•Considering both ORD & LAX for year-round service beginning in November. ORD currently resumes Nov 29.
•Winter schedules resume Dec 20 with up to 24x daily from five hubs (9x DEN, 5x ORD, 4x IAH, 4x LAX, 2x SFO).
•Peak holiday schedules will run through Jan 7 next winter.
•United will cut from winter to spring schedules on Tuesday, April 3. But at this point, both ORD & LAX are loaded
through the entire month of April plus five daily from DEN (versus four this year).
•Overall capacity increase of 17% is currently scheduled by United at this point, although some reductions are
expected from Jan 8 –Feb 14.
Total Winter Seat Count at this point: 271,726 -an increase of 22% over this past winter
OVERALL WINTER CAPACITY
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
'06/07 '07/08 '08/09 '09/10 '10/11 '11/12 '12/13 '13/14 '14/15 '15/16 '16/17 '17/18
12 Year History of Scheduled Winter Seats into ASE
AA
NW
DL
F9
US/HP
UA
COMPETITIVE COMPARISON
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
'06/07 '07/08 '08/09 '09/10 '10/11 '11/12 '12/13 '13/14 '14/15 '15/16 '16/17 '17/18Total Available Seats Dec -AprWinter Seat Trends -Mountain Airports
ASE
EGE
JAC
HDN
MTJ
SUN
GUC
MMH
Contact: John Kinney – 970-429-2851
Director of Aviation
Contact: Bill Tomcich – 970-920-7120
President, Stay Aspen Snowmass
NEW NONSTOP FLIGHTS FROM DFW & LAX TO NOW BE OFFERED DAILY THIS FALL
Both American and United to bridge the gap between seasonal summer and winter service on two key nonstop routes.
(Aspen, CO – 08.01.2017) The Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE) today announced new daily nonstop
flights this fall on American from DFW and United from LAX. Instead of discontinuing service on these
nonstop routes on October 4 as originally planned, both routes are now scheduled to operate daily
throughout both October and November until winter seasonal flights resume in December. Travelers to
and from Aspen Snowmass will now have the choice of two airlines from three hubs throughout
October and November this year.
United is also scheduled to operate up to seven daily flights from Denver in September, an average of
five daily in October, and four daily in November. With the addition of these two new nonstop flights,
total daily seat capacity into ASE will increase by 40% in October and 50% in November over what was
offered last fall.
"While we have enjoyed substantial increases to seasonal flights during both the winter and summer
months, it’s great to finally see some flight additions at a time of the year when our airport can easily
accommodate them,” said Aspen/Pitkin County Airport Director, John Kinney. “We expect this will
make it a lot more attractive for locals to use their local airport.”
Currently, three airlines are now offering peak summer schedules into ASE with up 17 daily flights from
seven markets nonstop through August 14. Outlined below are the current planned frequencies by
carrier and by market through the rest of this summer and fall.
Carrier Market Frequency Seasonality
United Denver (DEN) ~8x daily
~7x daily
~5x daily
~4x daily
Now – Aug 14
Aug 15 – Oct 4
Oct 5 – Oct 28
Oct 29 – Nov 21
United Los Angeles (LAX) Daily Now – Apr 2
United Chicago/O’Hare (ORD) Daily Now – Oct 4
United San Francisco (SFO) Daily Now – Sep 4
United Houston/Bush (IAH) Daily Now – Aug 14
American Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) Daily Now – Apr 2
American Chicago/O’Hare (ORD) Daily Now – Oct 4
American Los Angeles (LAX) Daily Now – Sep 5
Delta Salt Lake City (SLC) Daily Now – Sep 3
Delta Los Angeles (LAX) Wed, Sat & Sun Now – Aug 30
“After hearing from so many folks about how challenging it was to fly in and out of Aspen Snowmass
this past spring, we are very pleased to be able to announce these huge additions to our fall air service
from both American and United,” said Bill Tomcich, President of Stay Aspen Snowmass. “This is
clearly a major step towards enhanced year-round service, and one that also happens to coincide with
the bridge closure in Glenwood Springs,” Tomcich added. “If these new flights are supported by locals
the way I expect they will be, I am confident this could lead to more direct flights next spring, as well.”
Aspen/Pitkin County Airport is located three miles from Aspen and seven miles from Snowmass Village,
the closest airport to any mountain resort destination. For information or to book flights and a vacation
to Aspen or Snowmass, visit www.stayaspensnowmass.com or call 800-262-7736.
American Airlines flights are currently available for sale on www.aa.com.
Delta Air Lines flights are currently available for sale on www.delta.com.
United Airlines flights are currently available for sale on www.united.com.
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SUMMER 2017 COMMERCIAL FLIGHTS INTO ASPEN/PITKIN COUNTY AIRPORT
Contact: John Kinney – 970-429-2851
Director of Aviation
Contact: Bill Tomcich – 970-920-7120
President, Stay Aspen Snowmass
WINTER FLIGHT SCHEDULES FINALIZED BY UNITED, AMERICAN and DELTA
All three carriers to offer expanded frequency and connections from ten key hubs.
(Aspen, CO – 08.16.2017) Following United’s recent announcement of expanded flights from their six
key hubs into nine popular ski destinations, the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE) today released a
summary of all commercial flights now planned for this upcoming winter.
American Airlines: Up to eight flights daily from four hubs (DFW, ORD, PHX & LAX) over the holidays
and on peak weekends for the balance of the winter, up from a maximum of five daily last winter:
DFW increased by one flight daily for a total of up to 4x daily throughout most of the winter.
ORD doubled to two flights daily over the holidays; additional Sat/Sun flight added Jan – Mar.
LAX remains unchanged with one flight daily Dec 15 – Apr 2.
PHX newly added with daily nonstop service (except Tue/Wed in January) beginning Dec 15.
Delta Air Lines: A total of six flights daily plus an extra flight on Saturdays from four hubs (SLC, LAX,
ATL & MSP) over the holidays, then four flights daily (less one on Tuesdays, plus one on Saturdays) for
the balance of the winter, up from three flights daily most of last winter.
SLC increased from one to three flights daily over the holidays, two flights daily Jan 7 – Apr 2.
ATL resumes Dec 21 with one daily flight and continues one week later this year through Apr 2.
LAX will see an additional Saturday flight over the holidays in addition to one daily nonstop Dec 21
through Jan 6, then 6x per week service (except Tuesdays) through Apr 2.
MSP will have daily nonstop flights Dec 21 – Jan 6, continuing on Saturdays Jan 13 – Mar 31.
United Airlines: 20-25x flights daily from five hubs (DEN, ORD, IAH, LAX & SFO). Notable capacity
increases from Jan 8 – Feb 14 with additional daily flights over last year from DEN, IAH, LAX & SFO.
Beginning Dec 21, the following frequencies are now scheduled to be offered by United, with peak
season defined as Dec 21 – Jan 7 and Feb 15 – Apr 2.
DEN: Up to 9x daily peak season, 7x daily + additional Saturday flight Jan 8 – Feb 14.
ORD: Up to 5x daily peak season, 4x daily Jan 8 – Feb 14.
IAH: 4x daily peak season, 3x daily + additional Saturday flight Jan 8 – Feb 14.
LAX: 4x daily through Apr 2, then one new daily flight now scheduled to continue year-round.
SFO: 2x daily all winter plus a new 3rd flight on Saturdays and Sundays during peak season.
On the busiest Saturdays over the holidays, there are now a total of 40 commercial flights scheduled to
arrive into ASE with all incremental flights scheduled to arrive either before 10:00am or after 2:00pm.
United in particular has strategically focused most of its capacity increases on need periods during the
week and most notably during January and early February when facility and ATC constraints are
generally less problematic.
“Capacity increases of this magnitude from all three of our commercial airline partners demonstrates
both an extraordinary commitment and strong confidence in our market,” said Aspen/Pitkin County
Airport Director, John Kinney. “This truly underscores the need for planned ongoing facility
improvements.”
“Recognizing there are a lot of winter visitors who have been forced to fly into Denver and drive from
there, these additional flights should make it more attractive, convenient and affordable to fly directly
into Aspen Snowmass this winter instead,” said Bill Tomcich, President of Stay Aspen Snowmass.
Links to spreadsheets detailing weekly flight frequencies now planned can be found here:
https://www.stayaspensnowmass.com/blog/2017/08/aspen-snowmass-flight-frequency-summary
Aspen/Pitkin County Airport is located three miles from Aspen and seven miles from Snowmass Village,
the closest airport to any mountain resort destination. For information or to book flights and a vacation
to Aspen or Snowmass, visit www.stayaspensnowmass.com or call 800-262-7736.
American Airlines flights are currently available for sale on www.aa.com.
Delta Air Lines flights are currently available for sale on www.delta.com.
United Airlines flights are currently available for sale on www.united.com.
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WINTER 2017/18 COMMERCIAL FLIGHTS INTO ASPEN/PITKIN COUNTY AIRPORT