JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Aviation Authority CEO, Mark VanLoh, spoke with the Jax Chamber Downtown Council on Friday about bringing transatlantic flights to Jacksonville International Airport.
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JIA’s Marketing and Public Relations Manager, Greg Willis, says the goal is to ultimately bring more tourism to Jacksonville. He also says that Jacksonville is one of the only top U.S. markets that does not already offer these flights, so JIA would be able to compete with other mid-sized markets.
In order to secure a partnership with an airline interested in providing these flights, airport management would need to provide that airline with a minimum revenue guarantee. An MRG ensures that an airline will still profit even if transatlantic flights don’t sell well.
MRGs in comparable markets, like Indianapolis and Cleveland, range anywhere from six million to upwards of $20 million. VanLoh says that Jacksonville’s is likely to exceed $13 million, and it must be funded at the local or state level.
Willis says that every city funds MRGs differently.
“If you look at one city, that’s one case study for one city,” Willis said.
Jacksonville City Council Vice President Nick Howland says that funding for JIA’s MRG would be funded by a taxpayer subsidy. Because of this, he’s not sure if the spending would be justified without guaranteed sustainability.
Many of Jacksonville’s Fortune 500 companies are domestic, and the city’s biggest employer, the U.S. Navy, has its own international flights.
“It would probably be better used to incentivize companies to relocate here or expand here,” Howland said. “So, eventually, we will have the natural demand that would justify a transatlantic flight.”
Sustainability is another crucial factor to consider. Willis says it would ultimately be up to the community to whether or not these flights stay at JIA.
“We have a lot of Delta loyalists, or American Airlines loyalists. If we get a non stop flight, it’s probably not going to be from one of those carriers,” Willis said. “They’re going to have to fly nonstop on the carrier that provides the service because if people don’t fly it, then we lose it.”
Willis told me he was unable to provide any sort of timeline, but once progress becomes available, we’ll let you know online and on air.
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