NORFOLK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 2003

 NORFOLK INTERNATIONAL AIR PORT

IATA  ORF

ICAO KORF

Utopia airport embarks you with this post to the analysis of the operations of Norfolk International Airport in 2003

aerial view of Norfolk International Airport

is a public use airport situated in the state of Virginia.

The development of commercial aviation started  in the area in 1926, when passengers could flew on the Mitten Line, operated by Philadelphia Rapid Transit Air Service, Inc.  Norfolk International Airport was established in 1938 when the city-owned Truxton Manor Golf Course was converted to Norfolk Municipal Airport, complete with a 3,500-foot (1,100 m) runway.

During the period from  1942 to 1947 the airport was operated by the US Army which lengthened the  runway and added 2 more to the existing facility the Army Air Corps returned the airport to the city's domain at the end of 1945.

On January 15, 1946,Capital Airways inaugurated the 2 daily round-trips from Norfolk to Washington  with the DC4 the first airline to do it.

In 1950 the control f airport was taken over by the newly established Norfolk Port and Industrial Authority (NPIA)

However the airport was not prepared for the jet age  and Norfolk Municipal Airport took on the new demands for longer and stronger runway and taxiway facilities easily, and jetliners here became the rule, not the exception.

In  1974 the new terminal was inaugurated.

In 1976, the airport's name was changed to Norfolk International Airport.

During the eighties A new general aviation facility opened and a new air cargo terminal was completed for all operations and MPIA became NPA Norfolk Port Authority.

In 1991, Norfolk International completed a new concourse extension providing 10 additional gates, for a total of 24 gates. A new state-of-the-art fire station and new FAA air traffic control tower facility also began operation.

The airport's largest capital improvement project, Arrival 2002, was completed in June 2002. The project included a new arrivals building with an automated baggage handling system; a space covered parking garage; runway and taxiway rehabilitation and upgrades; main terminal lobby refurbishment; and a new food/beverage and retail concession program

Norfolk International Airport covers an area of 1,300 acres) at an elevation of 27 feet (above sea level) . Airfield facilities consist of a main runway designated 5–23 which is 9,001 by 150 feet (2,744 x 46 m) and a crosswind runway designated 14–32 which is 4,875 by 150 feet (1,486 x 46 m). These facilities allow operations to nearly all commercial aircraft types

General aviation services, or fixed based operations, are provided by Landmark aviation with full-service facilities for maintaining and housing private and corporate aircraft. The modern 54,000-square-foot (5,000 m²) terminal facility offers everything from aircraft rental to sightseeing flights and aircraft repair.

Copyright Norforlk  International Airport

Copyright Norforlk  International Airport

Copyright Norforlk  International Airport

Copyright Norforlk  International Airport

Norfolk (the city)

The city was founded in 1682 making it one of the oldest urban settings of the ISA. It has a population of slightly less than 250,000 according to the last census and with a metropolitan population of about 1,700,000. The city is located at the core of the Hampton roads  and has been since its creation an important strategic military place  as depicted by its important naval base  and transportation point  as the head-quarters of the Norfolk Southern Railway company and Maersk line which manages the world's largest fleet of US-flag vessel. are located in the city . Top employers are : the US ministry of defense , Sentara Healthcare,  Norfolk City Public Schools, City of Norfolk, Old dominion Univeristy, Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters. BAE Systems Electronic Systems, Norfolk State University (NSU) , Eastern Virginia Medical School and PRA Group, Inc.


"Norfolk Skyline" by Michael - Norfolk VA at night. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.




"Norfolk, Virginia skyline" by Gabor Eszes (UED77) - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

AIRPORT STATS for 2003

PASSENGERS



3,533,554  passengers flew through ORF airport during 2003, the majority of which on scheduled flights, Non-scheduled flights account only for 0.2% departure performed and 0.15% of passengers flown.

STATISTICS  by Airline 

The above table shows us clearly that Southwest was the leading carrier in both departure performed and passenger carried , followed by Delta Airlines and US Airways.

With 80.7% Load factor, Atlantic Coast Airlines ranked first, followed by Pinnacle Airlines (77.8%) and Express jet Airlines (76,7%). Lowest load factors were achieved by Colgan Air (47.8%) and Piedmont Airlines (59.9%)


What becomes more interesting is when we factor the various Airlines that act as a connector to the main carrier

The table above  illustrates the dramatic changes when connection carriers are taken in consideration. Southwest retrocedes to the third place overtaken by both Delta and US Airways. United Airlines through its connection carriers  makes its appearance at the 6th place



The table below illustrates the traffic distribution through the year. February is the lowest month in both departures and traffic and July and August as it is expected are the best months in both traffic and Load factor.

TRAFFIC by segment

Major top 5 destinations are Atlanta , Baltimore, Charlotte, Philadelphia and New York (all airports) and follow closely the major hubs of the mega carriers : Delta Airlines (Atlanta), US Airways (Charlotte and Philadelphia) whereas Baltimore is a focus city for Southwest

As it is expected Las Vegas as a holiday destination tops the LF chart followed by the good performance of Chicago and Atlanta. Worst performer is ORF-MEM with a paltry 48.5%

TRAFFIC by Market

The table below gives us an insight on the various markets served from ORF, including Canadian destinations such as Regina, Montreal and Halifax.

Markets served by the Airlines serving ORF differ significantly from the segment distribution Atlanta comes at the 10th position whereas Chicago tops the chart. Lot of Norfolkians use hubs to markets and cities not served by majors . Worth noting are the important traffic flow between ORF and the Canadian cities of Montreal , Regina and Halifax,

Competition at ORF

Simply in  words , there is none , all group carriers enjoy a monopoly to their hubs except for New York where Continental Group holds slightly less than half of the market , followed by US Airways at 38.8% and Delta Airlines in the last position.
As for Chicago traffic we have a duopoly between United and American Airlines where UA has 64.6 % of the market.

TRAFFIC BY AIRCRAFT TYPE

Jet airliners account for 76% of the departures but for more than 91% of passengers carried (see table below) as it is expected

The more  detailed table here below says that Boeing 737-300 was the jet most seen in ORF followed by MD80 all series and by the Boeing 737-700 series, Regional Jets Embraer 135 and the CRJ100/200 were the most popular.
On the turboprop scene the dash8-100 and the Saab340 hold the top position.
Some "oldies but Goldies" made rare appearances such Delta's Boeing 727 and B737-200 and Northwest's DC9-10,DC9-30/40/50

Summary by Airline Groups

AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP

American Airlines served its 2 hubs Dallas and Chicago and focus cities Saint-Louis (ex TWA hub) and Boston .

American Eagle serves Boston , Chicago and New York with a mixed fleet of EMB 135/140/145


"American Eagle N702AE" by Anthony92931 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.



"American Eagle Embraer ERJ-140; N841AE@LAX;21.04.2007 466gf (4288437975)" by Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland - American Eagle Embraer ERJ-140; N841AE@LAX;21.04.2007/466gf. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.




whereas American Air lines uses its MD80 all series fleet 


"American N566AA MD80" by Anthony92931 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES GROUP

81% of the traffic is carried by Continental , As it is generally the case the group serves its major hubs Houston/Cleveland and Newark and a regional flight operated By Continental Express  between Norfolk and Richmond . Flights to Cleveland are solely operated by Continental Express.
ERJ135/145 are the main regional jets used by Continental express whereas the B737-300/500/700/800 series (the 500 series principally) are the one favoured by Continental


"N14628 110810 (6722220927)" by ERIC SALARD from PARIS - N14628 110810. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

 DELTA AIRLINES GROUP

As we can see from table 1, ORF is served by main carrier Delta and its 2 subsidiaries : ASA and COMAIR however, the flow of traffic is unevenly distributed , DL getting the lion share of the traffic. Atlanta is the preferred destination by far as it is the most important hub of the group.
The Canadair100/200 is the most popular jet used by ASA and Comair


"Canadair CL-600-2B19 Regional Jet CRJ-200ER, Delta Connection (ASA - Atlantic Southeast Airlines) AN0165819" by John Davies - CYOW Airport Watch - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/Delta-Connection-%28ASA/Canadair-CL-600-2B19-Regional/0165819/L Photo http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/9/1/8/0165819.jpg. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.




"247dd - Comair Canadair RJ 200ER, N403CA@MIA,20.7.2003 - Flickr - Aero Icarus" by Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland - 247dd - Comair Canadair RJ 200ER; N403CA@MIA;20.7.2003. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

whereas the MD80 (all series) followed by the 757 are the most popular airliners used by Delta. Delta is also the user of some oddities such as the B737/200, the Boeing 727/200 and even operated its Boeing 767-200/300 series


"346af - Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-232, N652DL@SLC,12.03.2005 - Flickr - Aero Icarus" by Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland -  Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

NORTHWEST AIRLINES GROUP

All 3 carriers provide services to Northwest's main hubs with different degrees of success, the weakest being the route to Memphis which coincidently has the lowest load factor.

If Pinnacle uses the Canadair Regional Jet and Mesaba  the Avroliner RJ85, it is NW which use the "oldies but goldies" with a vast array of Douglas DC9/30/40/50 services and in some occasions the venerable DC9/10.

"Canadair CL-600-2B19 Regional Jet CRJ-200LR, Northwest Jet Airlink (Pinnacle Airlines) AN0789597" by John Davies - CYOW Airport Watch - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/Northwest-Jet-Airlink/Canadair-CL-600-2B19-Regional/0789597/L Photo http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/7/9/5/0789597.jpg. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.


"N530XJ BAe.146 Northwest Jet Airlink (7424951638)" by aeroprints.com. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

"N9338 DC-9-31 Northwest YYZ 24AUG00 (5592643777)" by Ken Fielding/http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenfielding. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.



"Northwest N756NW DC9" by Anthony92931 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

US AIR GROUP

Us Air deploys no less than 8 regional carriers to provide traffic to its hubs , CLT is the most popular sector flown where as its single regional route to RDU is certainly not a people pleaser. From all the Groupp carriers servibg ORF. US Airgroup ranks very low on its Load Factors.

Various Airliners are flown from the dash8100/300 series, the SAAb340,  the Beech1900, all varieties of regional jets Dornier 328/Embraer 140/145 , Canadair RJ 200 use by the regional carriers whereas US Air used mainly its B737-300/400 series.

"Beech 1900C-1, USAir Express (Stateswest Airlines) AN0264951" by JetPix - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/USAir-Express-%28Stateswest/Beech-1900C-1/0264951/L Photo http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/1/5/9/0264951.jpg. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.




"N346CJ 110810 (6722218063)" by Eric Salard - N346CJ 110810. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.



"De Havilland Canada DHC-8-102 Dash 8, Piedmont Regional (Henson Airlines) AN0207950" by JetPix - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/Piedmont-Regional-%28Henson/De-Havilland-Canada/0207950/L Photo http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/0/5/9/0207950.jpg. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.


"N417US (7028962299)" by Eric Salard - N417US. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

UNITED AIRLINES AIR GROUP

United Airlines is the sole legacy carrier that does not fly its own metal to ORF but rely on  Atlantic Coast Airlines to fill seats to its major hubs in Washington and Chicago

Canadair RJ200 , Jetstream 41 are the main airliners used.

"281cg - United Express Canadair CRJ200ER; N956SW@LAX;03.03.2004 (8232545676)" by Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland - 281cg - United Express Canadair CRJ200ER; N956SW@LAX;03.03.2004. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.


"N317UE J.41 UA Exp-Atl Coast EWR 29APR00 (6857782874)" by Ken Fielding/http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenfielding. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

The company has a virtual monopoly on the non-stops route to Florida and the unique leisure destination that is Las Vegas and unbeknownst  to many WN carries a lot of transfer passengers to other destinations mainly through BWI (RDU : 18168 pax , MHT: 10527 pax, Houston : 10302 pax , BDL : 17561 pax , ALB : 16256 pax) flights are mainly operated by a mix of  B737-300 and 700 series



"Southwest B737-300(N376SW) (4635412653)" by Kentaro Iemoto from Tokyo, Japan - Southwest B737-300(N376SW) Uploaded by russavia. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons.



"RDU 5-31-08 N252WN (2539986748)" by James Willamor from Raleigh, NC, USA - RDU 5-31-08 N252WN. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

FREIGHT STATISTICS

The market is dominated by FedEx which controls  more than 63% of the market with as a result the most important freight route is  to its hub in Memphis

Traffic is mostly carried on FedEx B727-100/200


"Boeing 727-2S2F-Adv(RE) Super 27, FedEx - Federal Express AN0260523" by John Davies - CYOW Airport Watch - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/FedEx---Federal/Boeing-727-2S2F-Adv%28RE%29-Super/0260523/L Photo http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/3/2/5/0260523.jpg. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.


UPS's B727-100/200 and DC8-70 and


"Boeing 727-1A7C(QF), United Parcel Service - UPS AN1174649" by Felix Goetting - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/United-Parcel-Service/Boeing-727-1A7C%28QF%29/1174649/L Photo http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/9/4/6/1174649.jpg. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.



"McDonnell Douglas DC-8-71(F), United Parcel Service - UPS AN0999249" by Felix Goetting - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/United-Parcel-Service/McDonnell-Douglas-DC-8-71%28F%29/0999249/L Photo http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/9/4/2/0999249.jpg. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.



Airborne's DC9-30/40


"McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31, Airborne Express AN0215825" by JetPix - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/Airborne-Express/McDonnell-Douglas-DC-9-31/0215825/L Photo http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/5/2/8/0215825.jpg. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.