New Orleans: Strong aviation growth, tourism and new tech businesses
NEW ORLEANS AIRPORT has set passenger growth records for three consecutive years, and 2018 is shaping up to be another strong year as new service additions in 2017 and 2018 continue to fuel increases in passenger throughput.
The airport has secured a raft of new services during the past couple of years, including long haul service from British Airways, which operates five times weekly to Louis Armstrong International from London Heathrow. Southwest Airlines, which is New Orleans' largest operator, is also bolstering its footprint from the airport in 2018 with new flights to Sacramento, San Jose and New York LaGuardia.
Although tourism continues to drive a significant proportion of New Orleans' economy, the city is joining other US metropolitan areas to attract technology companies in order to attain a level of economic diversity, and ensure that it garners its share of the economic gains driven by the tech industry.
- New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport has experienced record passenger growth for three consecutive years, with a 35% increase in passenger levels from 2010 to 2017.
- The airport's airline capacity is expected to grow by 12% in 2018, driven by new service additions from airlines such as British Airways, Condor, Southwest Airlines, and others.
- The addition of long-haul services, including British Airways' year-round nonstop service to London Heathrow, has resulted in a surge of international passengers at the airport.
- New Orleans has a strong presence of low-cost carriers, with Southwest Airlines being the largest operator at the airport. LCCs represent over half of the airport's departing frequencies.
- The city of New Orleans is actively working to attract technology companies in order to diversify its economy and drive further growth. The opening of a digital transformation center by DXC Technologies is expected to create 2,000 direct jobs and generate significant economic output.
- The growth of the tech sector in New Orleans could lead to more air service additions as airlines aim to cater to the needs of the growing industry.
Summary
- New Orleans Louis Armstrong International airport posts a 35% jump in passenger growth from 2010 to 2017.
- The airport's airline capacity has been steadily growing, and should increase by 12% year-on-year in 2018.
- Louis Armstrong International scored key service additions in 2017, with new service by British Airways and Condor adding services to London Heathrow and Frankfurt.
- The airport has a solid mix of services from low cost and full service airlines.
- New Orleans is wisely working to attract technology companies in order to attain economic diversity.
New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport Annual Passenger Numbers
New Orleans has enjoyed record passenger growth during the past three years
New Orleans Louis Armstrong International airport reached passenger growth milestones in 2015, 2016 and 2017, with increases in passenger levels of 9.1%, 4.4% and 7.8%, respectively. Between 2010 and 2017, New Orleans posted passenger growth of 35%.
From Jan-2018 to Jul-2018 the airport's passenger levels increased by 10.8%, which puts Louis Armstrong International in a strong position to maintain its favourable growth levels.
New long haul service results in a surge of international passengers
Data from CAPA and OAG shows that New Orleans' capacity has been steadily increasing over the past few years. Projections for 2018 show an increase in seats of nearly 12%, year-on-year.
Numerous new service additions are fuelling those capacity increases. During 2017 the airport secured new services from Allegiant, Alaska and Virgin America, British Airways, Condor, Frontier, Spirit and Southwest Airlines - its largest airline measured by frequency of departures.
BA's service to London Heathrow was a key win for New Orleans, giving the airport a year-round nonstop service to Europe. The airline inaugurated its new service to Heathrow in Mar-2017 and added a fifth weekly frequency in Oct-2017.
With Condor's seasonal service to Frankfurt, New Orleans now has services to two of Europe's largest cities, joining Copa's service to Panama City launched in 2015 and Air Canada's service to Toronto Pearson International airport. Those service additions helped to propel the airport's 186% hike in international passenger numbers year-on-year in 2017.
New Orleans has a strong LCC presence, led by Southwest's dominance
During 2018, Southwest has added service from New Orleans to Sacramento, San Jose and Cancún - each with a single weekly frequency - and plans to introduce new service from the airport to New York LaGuardia in Nov-2018, joining Delta Air Lines on the route. New Orleans is one of Southwest's longest-standing markets. The airline started service to the airport in 1979, and New Orleans was Southwest's first destination outside its home state of Texas.
JetBlue offers flights from New Orleans to New York JFK, and Spirit serves the New York area from New Orleans with services to Newark. Spirit has also added new flights to Atlantic City from New Orleans in 2018, and Silver Airways has debuted new service to Branson, Missouri.
Although American, Delta and United are New Orleans' second, third and fourth largest airlines by departing frequencies, Spirit and JetBlue combined represent approximately 13% of the airport's frequencies, which, together with Southwest's commanding presence at the airport, results in LCCs representing just over half of Louis Armstrong International's system departing frequencies.
New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport Departing Frequencies By Airline
New Orleans joins most larger cities in working to attract tech firms
New Orleans is a large US tourist destination. The city's convention and visitor's bureau has stated that the city posted a 6% increase in direct visitor spending in 2017, and the number of visitors to the city grew by 5.7% year-on-year, to 17.7 million.
But according to Urban Land, the city has also undergone solid movement in the technology field and foresees opportunities in the medical and research sectors. The Virginia-based technology firm DXC Technologies has opened a digital transformation centre in New Orleans, which should result in 2,000 direct jobs for the city during the next few years.
The local publication The New Orleans Advocate, citing research by Louisiana State University, has stated that the DXC Technology project should generate total economic output for Louisiana of USD3.2 billion from 2018 through 2025.
An editorial in the Advocate concluded that Louisiana - unsurprisingly - has offered DXC approximately USD120 million in incentives, or less if the company's annual payroll grows as expected through 2024.
New Orleans could garner more service if the tech sector continues to grow
New Orleans Louis Armstrong International is one of the fastest growing airports in the US, and that growth shows no signs of slowing as airlines serving the airport work to ensure that they create the right network footprint to serve the city.
As the city of New Orleans works to grow the tech sector of its economy, new air service will certainly become a by-product of that growth.
New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport System Departing Frequencies By Business Model
