Possibility of new routes to the Middle East (i.e DXB) from CLT/DFW

[eolesen]

Paid for by airport bonds. Landing fees or anything are not going up. Do your own fact check sir.

You must not understand basic finance. Bonds have to be paid back.

Unless CLT happens to be sitting on top of a natural gas reservoir and they can drill wells (like DFW did to pay for its new terminal...), then the money to pay back the bondholders will come either from increased rent, increased landing fees, or increased concession revenue.

I'll give you a hint... concession revenue rarely meets expectations. The bonds will be paid back thru landing fees or rent, both of which directly are paid by the airline.

We've seen this same situation play out at a dozen airports in the past two decades: the local airport authority builds a trophy airport, expecting the airlines foot the bill. The cost gets passed along to the airlines, who in turn decrease service.

Hopefully, the planners at CLT are smart enough to realize this, but if they're political appointees, unlikely. They like spending OPM.

 

[700UW]

Actually CLT concession revenue is very profitable and US actually gets money from CLT from the concessions, it was quite a sum last year.

 

[Kev3188]

I'll give you a hint... concession revenue rarely meets expectations.

Interesting! I'd think they would be higher these days, given the drop in food service for most carriers? Maybe it's an issue of betting way too high, even with that in mind?

I'd be curious to see what my airport's revenue is. We (NW at the time) actually had to move our operation so that our gates were directly across from the stores/food court. The projections they came up with seemed pretty "optimistic," when compared to what the then current levels were, but who knows?

 

[700UW]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/01/4013936/us-airways-lease-hinges-on-clt.html
 

In the case of Charlotte Douglas, the lease also includes a lucrative agreement for sharing concessions revenue, which paid US Airways $10.4 million last year. That largely offset the $17.6 million worth of landing fees the airline paid.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/01/4013936/us-airways-lease-hinges-on-clt.html#.UxnZJIX4Khx#storylink=cpy
 

 

[LD3]

 

Hopefully, the planners at CLT are smart enough to realize this, but if they're political appointees, unlikely. They like spending OPM.

 
The planners at CLT are not appointed, but there seems to be a big push to get the Intl terminal going very soon, and I believe they are eager to put a dog leg on B con....

 

[eolesen]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/01/4013936/us-airways-lease-hinges-on-clt.html

That's great if US got a kickback on the revenue -- they bring in the customers who use the concessions. But what were the airport's expectations?

What I am saying is concession revenue alone won't repay the bonds, and while US was able to offset what they paid, the fact is that landing fees and terminal rental are the other two legs of the stool.

 

[AAviator]

When USairways bows out of STAR, what German cities will get the axe?

 

[AdAstraPerAspera]

I think it's safe to say Lufthansa's CLT-Munich is done

 

[700UW]

I believe LH has contracts with several companies ie. BMW and others to run that flight.
 
I dont think you will see it go away anytime soon.

 

[robbedagain]

LH did say they will continue to operate the flight   I read that somewhere recently