The Charlotte Business Journal reported yesterday that international passenger traffic at Charlotte Douglas International is down this year while overall traffic is up slightly.
“Slightly more travelers made their way through Charlotte Douglas International Airport from January through April than during the first four months of last year, even with a drop in the number of passengers flying abroad.”
That’s not surprising. Charlotte has gone from the big fish in a little US Airways pond to a still sizable but smaller fish in a much bigger American Airlines pond. I expect London will figure heavily in Charlotte’s international future, with continued nonstop service to Frankfurt and Paris as well. I also think one could make the case for a flight to Madrid (think Iberia), at least seasonally. But South America and other secondary European cities are not likely to work within the context of a much larger network as part of American Airlines.
Charlotte remains one of my favorite places to change planes, and will almost certainly continue to be a key part of American Airlines’ domestic network. However, I’d expect more tweaking and trimming as the American and US Airways networks become one with some (certainly not all) of the Caribbean flying from CLT possibly being on the target list.
-MJ, June 12, 2015
Do you think PHL will remain a hub since AA has a hub at JFK and essentially a domestic hub at LGA?
Hard for me to say. Seems duplicative, but there is a sizable local market there. I just don’t know. I would expect some kind of reconfiguration of services over time, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be a hub.
Maybe it’s just my experience but it seems harder to find CLT-Europe award tickets and usually have to go through PHL or New York.
I like CLT ok but lately it seems like I end up at one of the overcrowded gates. Also could the food (take aboard sandwiches, bottles of soda and water) be any more expensive? I’m used to airport prices but last time I was there I paid like $10 for a small lunch meat sandwich and $4 for a 20oz bottle of coke.
@Mwwalk – IIRC, prior to the merger, LH & AC were the only airlines operating internationally from CLT before the merger, and both still fly there.
How much of this is could be from star alliance carriers not flying there or not carrying as many passengers since they can’t connect onward using us airways?
They currently have service to Barcelona as well. Just got off that flight yesterday…