THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230463
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROANOKE ISLAND LENGTH: Long : 129 lines
If airport officials' plans take off, commuter planes could be making daily flights from Manteo to Washington, D.C., within a year.
Round-trip tickets from the Dare County Airport to the nation's capital could cost less than $100. One-way flight times would probably be less than an hour. And trips could be scheduled as often as 11 times a day in the summer.
``Three airline firms are very interested in this market,'' said Dare County Commissioner Clarence Skinner, who also serves on the local airport authority. ``We're shooting at getting a commitment from an air carrier by fall, with operations starting by spring of 1997. Businesses, local residents and tourists all would benefit from this service.
``It would open up new opportunities for area taxi companies, rental car outlets and bus services,'' Skinner said Wednesday. ``And it would give the Outer Banks a new market for visitors who want to spend three- or four-day weekends here.''
However, some residents who attended a meeting Wednesday night contended that if the idea were profitable, airline officials would be trying to set up operations here rather than being sought.
Dare County has never had regular commuter flights to Washington or Raleigh. A few companies have tried to begin a business flying people from the Outer Banks to Norfolk and back. But they've never made enough money to last.
Wednesday night, representatives from USAir, Piedmont Aviation and Midway Commuter Airlines attended a meeting at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island to hear the results of a study on the feasibility of scheduled air service from Manteo to a major city.
Midway pilot Paul Borgstrom flew his 19-seat Beechcraft 1900 twin engine turboprop plane into the Dare County airport to give local officials a glimpse at the possible air shuttle service - and a quick ride above the Outer Banks.
``This plane usually flies at 17,000 feet and goes about 270 miles per hour,'' Borgstrom told passengers in the low-ceilinged aircraft - complete with fold-down, seat-back trays. ``We have service now from Raleigh to Myrtle Beach, Columbia, S.C., and Wilmington. We'd like to start flying to the Outer Banks, too.''
Borgstrom's white plane has one seat on each side of the aisle and is relatively quiet compared to other aircraft. It flew passengers from Manteo above the Wright Brothers Monument in Kill Devil Hills and back in less than 15 minutes.
He said Dare County Airport's 3,800-foot runway was the shortest he'd ever landed on.
But airport officials insisted that a commuter plane service could be set up there with minimum changes to the terminal and ticket counter, no additional runway space - and about $5,000 in county funds.
If an air shuttle service starts on the Outer Banks, consultant Peter LeBoff estimated, an average of 109,600 people will fly on it each year.
``All findings are favorable for scheduled air service from Manteo to a major airport,'' LeBoff told about 50 people who attended the airport authority's Wednesday night meeting. ``The best market appears to be the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore region for nonstop flights.
``Initially, we were considering Norfolk as a stop en route to another airport. But BWI (airport, in Baltimore) and Dulles (in Northern Virginia) each have 50 nonstop markets they connect with instead of Norfolk's 10.''
LeBoff - an executive with Kurth & Co. Inc., aviation marketing and management consultants in Washington, D.C. - presented results of a study his firm conducted over the past two years. The 40-page, $30,000 report was financed by the Dare County Airport Authority and the state Department of Transportation. It was based on surveys of Outer Banks travel agencies, property owners and visitors.
According to the study, 55 percent of local Dare County property owners would use a commuter airline service - with 44.4 percent saying they'd fly to Norfolk, 28 percent to Raleigh and 22.7 percent to the Washington-Baltimore area.
Of nonresident property owners surveyed, 38 percent said they'd use an air shuttle service to get to the Outer Banks - with 22 percent preferring a Norfolk stop, 20 percent wanting D.C.-Baltimore and 8 percent opting for Raleigh.
Other destinations suggested by property owners include Charlotte, Greensboro, New York, Atlanta and Greenville.
Three-fourths of the 300 Outer Banks visitors surveyed said they drive a family vehicle to Dare County. Fewer than 6 percent fly directly to the Outer Banks. About 6.5 percent of all those surveyed, however, said they'd use a commuter airline service to Norfolk if one were available - with Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Raleigh and Charlotte following as other desired destinations.
Airport choices cited by Outer Banks travel agents included Norfolk, 91.8 percent; Raleigh, 3.3 percent; Washington-Dulles Airport, 1.6 percent; Baltimore, 0.9 percent; and Wilmington, 0.9 percent.
LeBoff said he based his predictions on about 6.3 million people visiting Dare County each year and about 25,000 people living on the Outer Banks year-round. A commuter airline could even afford to schedule up to three daily shuttle flights during the winter, he said. From May through October, he estimated, 234 passengers would book a flight each day, each way.
``What's gonna really drive this market is the visitor component,'' said LeBoff. ``We're estimating, based on similar markets like Myrtle Beach, that visitors would account for about 80 percent of the scheduled flights.''
Kill Devil Hills resident David Lehr, however, reminded the consultant that - unlike Myrtle Beach - the Outer Banks doesn't have a convention center to attract business fliers year-round. And, unlike Rocky Mount and Danville and Staunton in Virginia - which the study used as a comparison for off-season travel - the barrier islands don't have any industries to draw out-of-towners. Lehr also predicted that any plane with more than 19 seats would need at least a 5,000-foot runway to land on - about 1,200 feet more than the one at Dare County's airport.
``Wouldn't it be more likely for the airlines to find us than for us to commission a study, go looking for them, and try to convince them to come here?'' asked Lehr.
Replied LeBoff: ``We're just streamlining their planning process.''
Retired airline pilot Chuck Elms, who formerly served on Dare County's Airport Authority, expressed other concerns.
``Until this place starts to look like Atlantic City - which, I hope, is a long way off - I have a hard time figuring out how we could support 11 commuter flights a day,'' Elms said. ``If 91 percent of the people surveyed said they want to go to Norfolk, it seems it would hardly pay to start this shuttle service by only picking people up in Washington, D.C.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
After the demonstration flight Wednesday, Midway Commuter Airlines
crewmen talked with, from left, Dare County Commissioners Bobby
Owens, Clarence Skinner and Sammy Smith. At right, Lois Thomas was
one of the passengers on the 19-seat twin-engine turboprop.
Graphic
PUBLIC COMMENTS SOUGHT
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB