Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikey711MN
As commented before, the KE rumor seems plausible, but a ton would have to go right to see it happen this year. There is no operational reason to start a sub-daily passenger route with a 747 though, not when you have access to twin-engine long-hauls with smaller cabins to fill and yields to establish on a new route.
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Goldenboot mentioned cargo, though, and I think that may play into it.
I can't remember who here posted the below article, but it mentioned good reasons for a flight to Asia, although the city being targeted was Toyko, not Seoul.
New Austin-London Nonstop Paves the Way for More International Flights
November 25, 2014
Quote:
Now city leaders have their sights on landing more international flights, with an Austin-Tokyo route high on the priority list.
[SNIP]
International routes help particularly if they connect a city to other business or industrial centers. However, Donovan said routes that target tourist destinations would probably have a smaller impact, because there is little to attract businesses, manufacturing or cargo traffic.
Airport officials would not comment on their plans. But in 2013, the airport created an incentives plan for new international routes – specifying that only London and Tokyo routes would qualify. The plan includes waiving landing fees for two years and providing up to $400,000 in marketing and advertising support over two years, contingent on City Council approval, according to a document on the airport website.
Tokyo is the third-largest airport system in the world, with two international airports, and a gateway to the rest of Asia, where many Austin tech companies have operations or suppliers. The list includes Dell Inc., Freescale Semiconductor and Cirrus Logic. Japanese companies including Tokyo Electron have plants or offices in Austin. South Korea-based Samsung has a $13 billion chip manufacturing complex in Austin.
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If Korean Air does start the rumored flights, I can't imagine that the City
wouldn't give then the same incentives they would have given another carrier if Tokyo service were to begin.
I happened to go over to the City's website and looked at the Austin Airport Advisory Commission's page for the March 10, 2015 meeting. It appeared to actually be the minutes from The February 10th meeting, but it was one of the few times I noticed that the Commission went into Executive Session. That normally doesn't happen at these meetings, or if it does I haven't noticed it.
Quote:
Commission Chair Dale Murphy recessed the Commission Meeting to go into Executive Session at 5:17 pm.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
The Austin Airport Advisory Commission went into Executive Session pursuant to Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code, to discuss or deliberate regarding commercial or financial information that the City has received from business prospects that the governmental body seeks to have locate, stay, or expand in the City and with which the City is conducting economic development negotiations.
Executive Session ended and Commission Chair Dale Murphy called the Commission Meeting back to order at 5:54 pm.
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It seems like the above might have something to do with the rumored KE flights, but I don't know for sure.
Does anyone remember this old thread from way back in December of 2006?
Austin leaders to visit South Korea
Quote:
Mayor Will Wynn will lead a delegation to South Korea next week to thank Samsung Corp. for building its second chip factory in Austin and cultivate a relationship that city leaders hope might lead to more investment.
"The Samsung project was the single largest investment project in this country in 2006," said Dave Porter, senior vice president of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. "It just makes sense for us to go over and do the proper thing, which is to thank them. . . . and set the stage for the next opportunity."
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If these flights come to fruition, it was literally years in the making.
The rumored KE flights might also be one of the reasons the City is looking to re-open the South Terminal. We only have Gates 2 & 3 available for international flights and Frontier also uses Gate 3. If the South Terminal re-opens, Frontier is one of the airlines that would be moving.
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