See below from the Jacksonville Business Journal:

"More passengers flew through Jacksonville International Airport in March than any month in the airport's 50-year history.

Almost 665,000 passengers passed through the airport last month. The airport's passenger count in March continues 18 straight months of year-over-year growth. Additionally, each of the last six months has been the busiest on record for that month."

I believe they are up 25% YOY from March of 2018 and 18%YTD on annual pax for 2019. Amazing resurgence after a decade of marginal growth. Hoping JAX eclipses 7mm this year.

Any thoughts if this is the year JAX gets its west coast flight to SFO or LAX?

DL had a n/s to LAX, but dropped it. Not sure what the traffic is like on the route.

I think more LAS service and maybe PHX are more likely adds before LAX/SFO. There’s not a whole lot of demand from CA and AA/UA have connected most of CA to DEN/DFW

ericm2031 wrote:

I think more LAS service and maybe PHX are more likely adds before LAX/SFO. There’s not a whole lot of demand from CA and AA/UA have connected most of CA to DEN/DFW

Yes, a daily Wn flight to PHX/LAS would work. As far as pax to California, I think both SFO and LAX are 200+ PDEW..so the nonstop flights are viable.

Delta actually flew JAX-LAX for a while about 10 years ago on the 737-800.
The flight was a nonrev dream when stuck at LAX. Hopefully whoever tries it this time around has better luck.

Happy to hear about the growth at JAX. This certainly is a good justification for the airport expansion that was recently announced. I wonder if they have any info on which airlines in particular are responsible for the most growth

And a 25% YOY increase is certainly worth posting about. Very few airports could boast that!

Flew in and out of JAX for the first time earlier this year and I was very impressed. Lovely airport from the passenger perspective. Short TSA lines, plenty of food options, concourses not too busy or cramped.

The shelf style sinks in the restrooms were weird, but apart from that I’d be happy to utilize it again in the future.

Last time I flew out of Jacksonville it was on an Altair F-28 to Boston.. Great to hear about the record month...How about those VS A340-600 charters too!

mikegigs wrote:

Happy to hear about the growth at JAX. This certainly is a good justification for the airport expansion that was recently announced. I wonder if they have any info on which airlines in particular are responsible for the most growth

And a 25% YOY increase is certainly worth posting about. Very few airports could boast that!

Well in the past year or so both NK and F9 have steadily increased their flights and we're seeing more mainline aircraft from UA and AA. I would imagine we're going to see record months for the rest of the year. Really great to see the airport growing and getting more attention! (Oh crap, I used an exclamation point)

mikegigs wrote:

Happy to hear about the growth at JAX. This certainly is a good justification for the airport expansion that was recently announced. I wonder if they have any info on which airlines in particular are responsible for the most growth

And a 25% YOY increase is certainly worth posting about. Very few airports could boast that!

Heres the link to the growth: http://www.flyjacksonville.com/PDFs/tra ... report.pdf

Wednesdayite wrote:

Flew in and out of JAX for the first time earlier this year and I was very impressed. Lovely airport from the passenger perspective.

Yes, the "new" JAX is great. Did you have the pleasure of flying out of the old facility?
Night and day difference. My only grip w/ JAX is its distance from the city.

KFTG wrote:

Wednesdayite wrote:

Flew in and out of JAX for the first time earlier this year and I was very impressed. Lovely airport from the passenger perspective.

Yes, the "new" JAX is great. Did you have the pleasure of flying out of the old facility?
Night and day difference. My only grip w/ JAX is its distance from the city.

Yeah I live here and agree that the location is kinda weird. I really wish they would make the entrance road a flyover type entrance with direct access to 95. I know it’d be difficult and quite the project, but those traffic lights at the interstate are a pain in the rear.

Great news for JAX. Does anyone else think that the plan for the terminal expansion is extremely odd looking?

Jaxman16 wrote:

mikegigs wrote:

Happy to hear about the growth at JAX. This certainly is a good justification for the airport expansion that was recently announced. I wonder if they have any info on which airlines in particular are responsible for the most growth

And a 25% YOY increase is certainly worth posting about. Very few airports could boast that!

Heres the link to the growth: http://www.flyjacksonville.com/PDFs/tra ... report.pdf

Thanks for the report and welcome to a.net. It's kinda weird that JAX report their pax numbers only be what must be their fiscal year and not by calendar year. Even though I've never been to JAX, I love pax stats all the same from anywhere.

PS: Just ignore the trolls that have nothing better to do than to insult "high schoolers". This is supposed to be a forum for aviation enthusiasts of all ages.

I love watching an airport start to gain traction. San Deigo, my home airport, went through two such periods, one domestically many years ago, and then another international period over the last few years where we've seen rapid growth and now have flights to London, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Zurich, Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto. It's thrilling to watch happen and be a part of.

The airport I fly most into, Sacramento, is presently undergoing enormous expansion domestically with a beautiful terminal and new service to Orlando, St. Louis, Nashville, Houston Hobby, Austin, Kona, Santa Barbara, Detroit, New Orleans, Vancouver and others, all of which have started within the last year or will start this summer.

Just five years ago, SMF served 27 cities non-stop, this year Sacramento will offer non-stop flights to 43 cities, and counting, and could surpass 13,000,000 pax if things go right.

With over 6mm pax through the terminal in 2018, JAX reminds me of SMF a few years ago and seems poised to break 7,000,000 this year. Which airline has the largest FF base in Jacksonville? whatever one it is, I'd look for them to announce service to their West Coast hub before summer 2020.

Good luck and will be looking for great things to come out of JAX in the coming year!

PS - pay no attention to some idiots here. Some people have nothing better to do that [email protected] on other people's posts. I don't know why some have an issue with enthusiasm on an aviation enthusiasts' site...

williaminsd wrote:

I love watching an airport start to gain traction. San Deigo, my home airport, went through two such periods, one domestically many years ago, and then another international period over the last few years where we've seen rapid growth and now have flights to London, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Zurich, Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto. It's thrilling to watch happen and be a part of.

The airport I fly most into, Sacramento, is presently undergoing enormous expansion domestically with a beautiful terminal and new service to Orlando, St. Louis, Nashville, Houston Hobby, Austin, Kona, Santa Barbara, Detroit, New Orleans, Vancouver and others, all of which have started within the last year or will start this summer.

Just five years ago, SMF served 27 cities non-stop, this year Sacramento will offer non-stop flights to 43 cities, and counting, and could surpass 13,000,000 pax if things go right.

With over 6mm pax through the terminal in 2018, JAX reminds me of SMF a few years ago and seems poised to break 7,000,000 this year. Which airline has the largest FF base in Jacksonville? whatever one it is, I'd look for them to announce service to their West Coast hub before summer 2020.

Good luck and will be looking for great things to come out of JAX in the coming year!

PS - pay no attention to some idiots here. Some people have nothing better to do that [email protected] on other people's posts. I don't know why some have an issue with enthusiasm on an aviation enthusiasts' site...

Delta/Skyteam. If they did announce western service, I think SLC would be the most likely candidate.

I would say that if anyone is going to fly to JAX from LAX, it's either AA or DL. DL may have more frequent flyers in the area because of its geographic proximity to ATL, but AA is bigger at both airports (source: https://www.flightsfrom.com/JAX , you are free to question its reliability). Personally, I would like for AA to take on that route but DL is more proactive about flying to secondary cities so time will tell.

Good point about a flyover for getting on and off I95 at the airport exit, the lights impede smooth flowing traffic. FLDOT needs to get that project done sooner rather than later.

Once the Delta LAX terminal improvements are complete I suspect they will bring back the direct flight they abandoned during the recession. Delta has served JAX since 1947, it has a loyal following in JAX. Delta is the only airline with a club. Suspect American may add one as part of the B addition. Included with the B addition there will be two additional security lines.

The rendering of the 3rd concourse at JAX is a little odd. Prior to the demolition and rebuilding of Concourses A and C there was a B concourse with several gates.

Sometime in the next few years Norwegian will probably offer service from JAX to Europe a few days per week as British Airways has done in Charleston.

KFTG wrote:

Wednesdayite wrote:

Flew in and out of JAX for the first time earlier this year and I was very impressed. Lovely airport from the passenger perspective.

Yes, the "new" JAX is great. Did you have the pleasure of flying out of the old facility?
Night and day difference. My only grip w/ JAX is its distance from the city.

I did fly out of there numerous times in the old facility. I remember in the 90s boarding the 767's & L1011's having to walk up the gate on a ridiculous incline because the concourse was so low. The airport has come along way!


I thought about SLC as a canidate before LAX for DL, but think at some point someone has to jump on this route.

Does anyone have the numbers for largest unserved markets from SFO, LAX, SAN and SEA? I bet JAX might be in each of their top 5 unserved markets!

Wednesdayite wrote:

The shelf style sinks in the restrooms were weird, but apart from that I’d be happy to utilize it again in the future.

JAX recently started remodeling the bathrooms one by one to swap out the sinks. They stated it was the #1 passenger complaint.

csweet wrote:

Great news for JAX. Does anyone else think that the plan for the terminal expansion is extremely odd looking?

I think it actually makes a lot of sense. Prior to the mid-2000’s remodel it had terminals A, B, and C in a similar shape. A and C were rebuilt and the recession stopped the plans for terminal B. The airport can add B (I believe 6 gates initially) without closing any gates on A and C.

The current master plan calls for closing the gates on the end of terminals A and C for for the next round of expansion after the initial B construction. That will require a minimum of 2 gates closed if they do the construction in phases (A then C). Following that the plan included a possible expansion to C. The master plan is being revised right now (and C will be in design soon), so that plan could change soon.

krsw757 wrote:

Yeah I live here and agree that the location is kinda weird. I really wish they would make the entrance road a flyover type entrance with direct access to 95. I know it’d be difficult and quite the project, but those traffic lights at the interstate are a pain in the rear.

I don’t think a flyover from I-95 is all that necessary. Thanks to the loop from I-95 Northbound to Airport Road Westbound the light right at the I-95 intersection itself cycles very quickly. Never have to wait at it more than a few seconds (for traffic coming from the south which is most of the traffic heading to the airport). What is critically necessary though is the elimination of the annoying light at the intersection of Airport Road and Duval Road (super annoying because it has to handle both the traffic on the main roads as well as the service road which causes a very long light cycle). Work is currently underway to eliminate the light in the Westbound direction at Airport & Duval which is good - less chance to miss your flight. However, to eliminate the light in the Eastbound direction, a future bridge is planned on Ranch Road but is not funded yet. The Airport authority insisted that money be spent first on the utterly useless road (Intl’ Airport Blvd) that was just finished from Pecan Park Road to Airport Road. I say utterly useless because the new road is already paralleled by two existing roads right next to it: Pecan Park to the West and I-95 to the East. The money spent on it would have been much better spent on the planned bridge at Ranch Road which would completely eliminate the annoying traffic light at Airport & Duval.

As of tomorrow 5/1 the Frontier JAX-LAS flights are now daytime flights. F9 2043 is JAX-LAS 9:08AM-11:56AM and F9 2042 is LAS-JAX 1:35PM-8:53PM.

JAXDan wrote:

As of tomorrow 5/1 the Frontier JAX-LAS flights are now daytime flights. F9 2043 is JAX-LAS 9:08AM-11:56AM and F9 2042 is LAS-JAX 1:35PM-8:53PM.

Good to see this switched from the redeye coming from LAS. Alot of the F9 routes have survived their notorious cuts, all the routes must be doing decent. Any feedback on the F9 and new NK routes would be appreciated.

Hoping to see more service added soon, nothing has been announced yet in 2019. I remember this time last year they had announced a number of new flights from various carriers.

[photoid][/photoid]

MalcolmInTheMoM wrote:

I would say that if anyone is going to fly to JAX from LAX, it's either AA or DL. DL may have more frequent flyers in the area because of its geographic proximity to ATL, but AA is bigger at both airports (source: https://www.flightsfrom.com/JAX , you are free to question its reliability). Personally, I would like for AA to take on that route but DL is more proactive about flying to secondary cities so time will tell.

DOT data suggests that Delta carries quit a bit more traffic than AA out of JAX.
Delta 22.5%
Southwest: 18%
American: 12-13%

luckyone wrote:

[photoid][/photoid]

MalcolmInTheMoM wrote:

I would say that if anyone is going to fly to JAX from LAX, it's either AA or DL. DL may have more frequent flyers in the area because of its geographic proximity to ATL, but AA is bigger at both airports (source: https://www.flightsfrom.com/JAX , you are free to question its reliability). Personally, I would like for AA to take on that route but DL is more proactive about flying to secondary cities so time will tell.

DOT data suggests that Delta carries quit a bit more traffic than AA out of JAX.
Delta 22.5%
Southwest: 18%
American: 12-13%

While Delta probably does carry more passengers than any other airline out of JAX, you can’t get a true picture of the situation without also including the respective airlines’ regional partners in the figures.

Just saw that JAX selected an architect for the new terminal..seems like they are moving fast on this. They only announced a couple months ago that they were going to adding a terminal B?

Terminal B was in the plans years ago and got put on hold during the recession. They recently awarded contracts for Terminal B design and a master plan update. I believe the design contract required a plan that could be operational by 2023.

I'd like to see NK or F9 pick up the JAX-MSY route.

It's a shame AC cancelled the route to Toronto last month. In conjunction with Silver leaving and Jetblue cancelling the San Juan route, that leaves JAX without any international service. Maybe in the future, these routes can comeback in addition to a TATL service from a carrier like WOW. JAX is #3 on the list of unserved cities in the US without service to Europe. Nearly 100k people travel from JAX to Europe each year (and that's using 2016-2017 data). I'm sure you can build an even bigger case for it now.

Jaxman16 wrote:

Good to see this switched from the redeye coming from LAS. Alot of the F9 routes have survived their notorious cuts, all the routes must be doing decent. Any feedback on the F9 and new NK routes would be appreciated.

Hoping to see more service added soon, nothing has been announced yet in 2019. I remember this time last year they had announced a number of new flights from various carriers.

While NK hasn't yet announced JAX-DFW nonstop service, NK adding JAX-DFW nonstop service might happen since DFW is one of the largest NK stations.

Just curious, what's driving this growth? Growing O&D or VFR? Jacksonville isn't exactly the tourist destination the rest of coastal Florida is so good for them for such large numbers growth.

ILS28ORD wrote:

Just curious, what's driving this growth? Growing O&D or VFR? Jacksonville isn't exactly the tourist destination the rest of coastal Florida is so good for them for such large numbers growth.

I think there are several reasons. Here are some potential ones:

The robust economy. This is causing growth not just in JAX but in other mid-sized markets like RIC for example.

Strong population growth in the Jacksonville area.

Entry of low-cost airlines to the market which offer new destinations and lower fares (not just at the ULCCs but due to competition at the legacy carriers as well). This is causing Jacksonville-area passengers which were previously being siphoned off by MCO and SFB to use JAX instead.

flybaby wrote:

ILS28ORD wrote:

Just curious, what's driving this growth? Growing O&D or VFR? Jacksonville isn't exactly the tourist destination the rest of coastal Florida is so good for them for such large numbers growth.

I think there are several reasons. Here are some potential ones:

The robust economy. This is causing growth not just in JAX but in other mid-sized markets like RIC for example.

Strong population growth in the Jacksonville area.

Entry of low-cost airlines to the market which offer new destinations and lower fares (not just at the ULCCs but due to competition at the legacy carriers as well). This is causing Jacksonville-area passengers which were previously being siphoned off by MCO and SFB to use JAX instead.

100% agree with all three of these. Jacksonville has been on countless lists of "fastest growing cities" or "best places to live" over the past 5 years or so. Economy is one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state. The growth in population has been substantial.

Don't rule out tourism uptick though, Jacksonville doesn't attract the crazy numbers like Orlando or Miami, but we have places like the Golden Isles, Amelia Island, St. Augustine and PV all within the metro area that draw alot of tourists.

I do think the ULCC might be the biggest factor, I know a ton of people who used to (and still) fly out of MCO for cheaper flights. JAX has some of those similiar offerings now ex:NK/F9/G4..

I would think JAX should be able to attract daily service from cities like :IND,CMH,PIT, STL, BDL,MSY and MCI..the only service that exiats is less than daily service ..and always hopeful of a Tatl flight.

I just flew JAX-FLL this past Friday for business and was astonished by how busy it was at midday. I typically fly out first thing in the morning, but had later meetings. The terminals and security were PACKED at this time of day. Never have seen it this busy ever in my hundreds of times flying out of here. It took about 45minutes to get through security.

Also, I flew Southwest this time and flight was about 90% full..which was good, I have heard within the forum that this route is one of the worst in Southwest's network.

Spruill7716 wrote:

I'd like to see NK or F9 pick up the JAX-MSY route.

It's a shame AC cancelled the route to Toronto last month. In conjunction with Silver leaving and Jetblue cancelling the San Juan route, that leaves JAX without any international service. Maybe in the future, these routes can comeback in addition to a TATL service from a carrier like WOW. JAX is #3 on the list of unserved cities in the US without service to Europe. Nearly 100k people travel from JAX to Europe each year (and that's using 2016-2017 data). I'm sure you can build an even bigger case for it now.

Unless you can convince BA to copy CHS with 2x weekly, 100k annual pax isn’t enough to land Europe service. At 200k, you might get more consideration.

It appears that for all intents and purposes, Frontier is giving up on JAX. The only destination left past mid-November is Philly (4x weekly).