Hawaii? Alaska? Boston? Boise Airport targets new markets, offers incentives for routes
How does Honolulu sound for your next vacation? Orlando? Anchorage?
The Boise Airport wants you to be able to fly directly to several new locations in the coming years — and it’s willing to pay for new routes through credits and other incentives.
The airport is rolling out an updated version of the Boise Airport Air Service Incentive Program, first adopted in 2013. The goal is to bring new destinations and additional flights to the market.
“It’s not the main factor an airline looks at, but it allows an airport to have a competitive edge in its efforts to recruit new nonstop destinations and airlines,” Sean Briggs, spokesperson for the airport, told the Statesman on Tuesday.
In Boise, incentives have been relatively successful. Briggs said recent routes that have qualified for incentives include direct service to Atlanta, Palm Springs and Orange County, California.
The 2021 version, approved by the Boise City Council on Tuesday night, offers incentives for new airlines looking to get into the market based on the number of weekly departures, how long the service would run and whether the new destination is a “target market.”
So what is the airport offering? And where might you be able to go?
New flights to and from Boise
Documents for the program show that target markets are Orlando, Honolulu, any airport in New York, Boston, Anchorage and other airports in the state of Idaho. Those are the ones Boise wants to bring the most, and the airport offers the largest incentive to airlines willing to offer them.
Target markets are identified “based upon community need,” according to a memo from Airport Director Rebecca Hupp to the Boise City Council.
Other factors, Hupp told the council during its work session Tuesday, include markets where a large number of people are looking to go and markets that provide hub connectivity.
Boise offers (or is scheduled to offer) nonstop flights to 23 cities, mostly on the West Coast. The most recent announcement was that Jet Blue would come to Boise this summer with a direct flight to JFK International Airport in New York.
To qualify for incentives, a carrier must offer direct flights to a new target market for more than 90 days, or to a new unserved market, which hasn’t been identified as a target, for at least a year. Flights must leave at least twice a week.
What is offered as an incentive?
For year-round service to a target market, the Boise Airport offers up to $125,000 per carrier. For seasonal service to a target market or year-round service to a unserved market, it offers up to $75,000.
The credit is issued over 24 months for target markets or 12 months for other markets. The credit can go toward landing fees (which airlines pay to land), terminal fees (which cover the cost of handling cargo) or a combination of both.
Airlines can also get marketing incentives by offering new nonstop service. For those, the airport provides reimbursements to airlines based on approved receipts for promoting the route through public relations campaigns.
Entirely new airlines also get incentives — a maximum of $25,000 in terminal rent or landing fees and a maximum of $25,000 in marketing incentives over the first 12 months.
“Keep in mind, though, four carriers control about 80% of domestic passenger travel in the U.S., and today, we have eight airlines in Boise,” Hupp told the council. “That tells you there’s really not that many additional new carriers that we could recruit.”
The costs for the incentive program are expected to be paid for by the revenue new service would generate, according to Hupp’s memo. Other financial gain is expected from parking and concession sales in the terminal.
What’s next for the airport?
The airport is starting several projects that it intended to start in 2020 but delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Those include a service animal relief area, a lactation room and a family restroom, all of which should be constructed this year. Passenger facility charges provide the funding, officials said.
Larger projects include the development of a new employee parking garage. Hupp projected that it would move forward this year, either in late summer or early fall.
A new public parking garage that would offer almost 1,200 spaces over five stories is also in the works.
The airport plans to relocate the Idaho Transportation Department hangar to clear space for car rentals, Hupp said. The current space is next to a parking garage, but tenants will move to the south side of the airport.
Car rental operations will move there, creating space to expand the concourse, she said.
Those projects will cost about $200 million.
Passenger traffic expected to stay low
Hupp commented on how much passenger numbers were down in 2020 because of the pandemic. Airport officials expected more than 4.1 million people to fly through BOI (the airport’s 3-letter designation) in 2020 — topping the record set in 2019 — but fewer than 2 million passengers came through.
Numbers for 2021 are expected to be higher, but Hupp projected that Boise won’t reach 2019 passenger numbers again until 2023.
“Our passenger travel did not dip as significantly as what we see nationwide, and we are seeing more additions of air service than what our peers are seeing,” Hupp said. “For those reasons, we think our recovery will most likely be quicker.”
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 7:31 PM.
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