RIC could see Southwest service in about a year

Southwest Airlines' low-cost service should be available to Richmond International Airport travelers in about a year, according to the regional airport's chief executive.

"I'd envision, by the last quarter of the year to early next year, new and additional [Southwest] service in Richmond," Jon E. Mathiasen, RIC's president and CEO, said Tuesday after the Capital Region Airport Commission meeting.

"This time next year, we're anticipating a very different operation here."

Dallas-based Southwest said in January that it intends to serve Richmond International, converting its AirTran Airways station to a Southwest one, but the discount carrier has not laid out a schedule for that transition.

"We know the first airport to go through the conversion process from an AirTran operation to a Southwest operation will be Seattle" starting with the Aug. 12 schedule, said Ashley Dillon, a Southwest Airlines spokeswoman.

"Beyond that, we do not have plans solidified for when we will transition all other airports," she said. "We don't have any announcements or plans for additional or new service at this time. It's too early to tell."

Southwest is the nation's largest domestic air carrier, and AirTran is seventh in passengers carried. Southwest bought discount carrier AirTran last year and is merging the two operations.

Officials expect that Southwest's entry into the Richmond market should expand the number of destinations easily available to RIC passengers while helping hold down ticket prices. Both of those effects would be an economic shot in the arm for the recession-dogged capital region and its airport.

Richmond International Airport's passenger traffic was down 4 percent in 2011 compared with traffic the year before, the Capital Region Airport Commission said Tuesday. RIC's passenger volume peaked at 3.6 million for the year in 2007.

The airport had 3.18 million air travelers last year; 3.31 million moved through the airport in 2010.

December's traffic, however, was 2.5 percent lower than the same month a year ago, with 249,617 passengers using the field in December 2011 versus 255,932 in the same month in 2010.

Despite signs of improvement in the economy, airport and business leaders caution that the future of the U.S. airline industry is fraught with uncertainty. They are urging Richmond region travelers to continue to buy tickets on AirTran with the hope that those purchases will reinforce Southwest's decision to locate in Richmond.

But, "Richmond is a prime spot for Southwest to mine," said aviation consultant Michael Boyd, president of Colorado-based Boyd Group International.

"When the dust settles, Richmond is going to do very well with Southwest Airlines in town," Boyd said, predicting Southwest will provide service to Chicago, Nashville and perhaps Houston. And, he said, "I'll bet you in 18 months you'll see nonstop service to Las Vegas."

Richmond travelers have long sought nonstop air service to the West beyond Dallas. Las Vegas is a major hub for Southwest Airlines, with service to other major western destinations such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.

Richmond International has begun to make way for Southwest, with steps under way to move AirTran's gates from the terminal's Concourse A to the larger Concourse B this spring.

While the immediate reason is to ease operations during the expansion of Concourse A's airline parking area, airport officials expect Southwest to move permanently to gates in Concourse B.

"We've got to be patient," Mathiasen said. "We've got 13 to 15 more months before we see complete integration."