airports in Virginia
Source: Virginia Department of Aviation - 2011 Virginia Airport System Economic Impact Study
Virginia has 57 General Aviation airports, plus 9 that offer scheduled commercial passenger service:
Only two, in Roanoke and Weyers Cave (near Waynesboro), are located west of the Blue Ridge. Charlotte, North Carolina is the closest major airport for many in Southwestern Virginia, though the region is also served by Mercer airport in West Virginia (near Bluefield) and by the Tri-Cities airport in Tennessee (near Bristol).
The two airports located in Northern Virginia are both managed by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, so any competition is constrained. However, three separate airports in Richmond, Newport News, and Norfolk are managed by different agencies tied to the business community in each city. They split the market, and they compete for business.
There is no regional approach to airport development in the Richmond/Hampton Roads area. The three airports continue to invest in upgrading their separate facilities (Newport News/Williamsburg received some extra state funding in anticipation of Aviation World's Fair 2003, before that event was cancelled due to an economic recession.) Because there is an small number of passengers leaving from any one of the three airports, community business leaders find it difficult to retain their low-cost airlines.
Between 1999-2005, the Richmond airport had some of the highest fares in the country. Richmond lost AirTran service in 1999 but Newport News retained it, because Newport News was willing to provide an income guarantee as a subsidy to the private airline but Richmond was not.1 Once Richmond convinced a low-cost airline (AirTran) to provide service again, rates dropped substantially based on the "Southwest Effect" (i.e., competition...).
In 2011, after Southwest Airlines acquired AirTran, the airline announced plans to cancel AirTran service at Newport News in 2012 - but to continue to fly from Norfolk and Richmond.2 Why the shift? Starting in 2000, Richmond spent $50 million to upgrade the airport terminal, and reduced landing fees by 20%.3 Then, in 2010, the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce launced the "Save Low Fares" campaign with a specific goal: "Richmond travelers need to fill 10 more seats on each AirTran flight per day to maintain AirTran’s service levels and to ensure a greater presence by Southwest."4
In 2011, AirTran was the dominate carrier at the Newport News airport, carrying almost 50% of all passengers. The Newport News response to the decision to cancel AirTran service: try to attract a new low-cost airline. The executive director of the airport said "It's nuts to think 485,000 passengers are going to drive to Norfolk... We will be successful in bringing in another airline or multiple airlines to satisfy that demand."5 Sure enough, low-cost airline Allegiant Air announced plans to start flying between Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport and Orlando even before AirTran shut down operations.6
Northern Virginia Airports
In contrast to the competition in Richmond/Hampton Roads, the two airports in Northern Virginia compete mostly with the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Maryland. Both Dulles and Reagan National are Federally-owned. National Airport was built in 1941 to free up the space occupied by the small Washington-Hoover airport to allow construction of the Pentagon. Because the new airport was constructed on land dredged up from the Potomac River, there was some question whether it was located in the District of Columbia or Virginia until, in 1945, Congress defined the airport boundary as the mean high water mark, meaning the facility was located in Virginia.7
Dulles opened in 1962 on the border of Loudoun/Fairfax counties (after a planned site in Burke was crowded out by suburban sprawl). It was "the first airport built specifically to handle jet aircraft."8 Dulles was underutilized until the 1990's. The Perimeter Rule passed by Congress limited nonstop aircraft flights from Reagan National to distances of 1,250 miles or less, which helped spur traffic at Dulles. However, passengers in a hurry prefer the closer-in airport. Intermittently various legislators from the western states attempt to relax/abolish the Perimeter Rule. In 2000, Congress permitted the FAA to allow six round-trip flights to points outside the perimeter.9
Until 1987, the two airports in Northern Virginia were operated by the Federal Aviation Administration in the U.S. Department of Transportation. To streamline the process for making long-term capital improvements without interference from short-term political considerations, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority was created in 1986 and the airports were leased for 50 years (until 2067). Since 1987 The authority has issued long-term capital bonds, financed by projected landing fees and concessioner profits, to expand the capacity and efficiency of the airports. The decision to lease, rather than transfer ownership, theoretically protects the ownership rights of the Federal taxpayers who funded the development of the airports
Composition of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority reflects the political disputes over the management of the airports, and concerns of Maryland officials that Baltimore-Washington International should continue to thrive. The original composition of the oversight board was debated extensively in 1986. Ultimately, 13 people were appointed to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, as defined in 49 USC 491:
Road and Rail Access to Dulles
When Dulles was built, far away from Washington in the Virginia countryside, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) built the Dulles Access Road to ensure fast ground transportation to the capital. It was a boring drive through the farms and woodlots of Fairfax County; old residents remember that only two structures were visible from the Dulles Access Road between the Capital Beltway and the airport to break up the visual monotony of the trip. Later, after construction of I-66, the Federal government funded an extension of the Dulles Access Road inside the Beltway to I-66.
Strong Federal management helped ensure that the road was not converted into a commuter highway. As described by General Pete Quesada, the first FAA administrator (appointed by President Eisenhower in 1959):10
In 1984, after development of offices and housing between Dulles and the beltway, the Virginia Department of Transportation built the Dulles Toll Road. It is an 8-lane highway, paralleling the access road. Tolls funded the expansion of highway capacity, while the Dulles Access Road remained free for airport users.
In 2008, Virginia transferred responsibility for the toll road to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, along with responsibility for constructing the extension of Metrorail to the airport. Ballooning costs for the Silver Line have triggered increases in the tolls, and renewed political debate over who should appoint members of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
