A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
February 24, 2009

Chamber Members:

Here is a link to the cover article from yesterday’s Metro Business section of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The story has good information about how Richmond International Airport (RIC) is working through the economic downturn and how RIC is doing compared to some of the other airports around the country.

I thought this would be of interest to you, our members, since a healthy airport with competitive airfares is important to our ability to do business.  While many of us think that the airport controls the airfares, the reality is that you and I make that determination.  The Chamber encourages Greater Richmond businesses to make use of the services of all airlines flying from RIC, but notes that the only way to maintain downward pressure on the price of flying is to keep low-cost carriers (LCCs) active and healthy in our market by earmarking a portion of your business for RIC’s newest arrivals.

One article that didn’t – thankfully – mention RIC was “America’s Rip-Off Airports” (Forbes, February 16, 2009), detailing fares at the US’s most expensive airports.  Before the arrival of AirTran (2005) and JetBlue (2006), RIC would have been at or near the top of the “rip-off” list.  With these two airlines offering service locally, the Forbes story notes that RIC is #84, tied with Norfolk, and priced well below many other airports (larger and smaller) in the region.

I would encourage you to think about this as you book your flights and do all you can to help keep our costs low.

Thank you for your chamber membership and thanks for being an important part of our community!

Sincerely,

Kim Scheeler
President & CEO
Greater Richmond Chamber