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TIA adds more nonstop cities in past decade
By JEAN HELLER
Published December 9, 2005
TAMPA - The number of cities served by daily nonstop flights from Tampa International Airport has climbed to 72 from 58 in the past decade.
Among the cities that have become nonstop destinations in the past five years are Salt Lake City; Phoenix; Albuquerque, N.M.; Austin and San Antonio, Texas; and a dozen others in the Southeast. The surge in use of regional jets has made nonstop service economical to smaller cities, including Birmingham, Ala.; Greenville and Columbia, S.C.; and Greensboro, N.C.
"We still need nonstop service to Seattle, San Francisco, Albany (N.Y.) and San Diego, and we are working on it," Louis Miller, TIA's executive director, told his board Thursday.
More of the nonstops are served by jets. Of the 58 daily nonstops in 1996, 11 were on turboprop planes. Of the 72 nonstops this year, four are by turboprops.
On the down side, TIA served 10 foreign cities with nonstop flights 10 years ago; today it serves five.
The low-fare fleets of TIA's No. 1 carrier, Southwest, as well as airlines like JetBlue, AirTran and Spirit account for 42 percent of flights, up from 31 percent five years ago.
Because almost half the passengers flying from TIA are on low-fare carriers, the average one-way fare from TIA fell this year to $117, down from $135 in 2001.
[Last modified December 9, 2005, 01:18:14]
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