wxman Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 (edited) So it seems that IAH continues to lose far more carriers than it attracts. We've lost Korean, Ethiopian, Southwest, Singapore airlines while United cut Paris a few years ago and cut Sydney down to seasonal. I realize not all these cuts came at once but we don't have near the foreign flags that DFW. It seems that DFW is certainly becoming the international gateway to Texas. It was always my assumption that the Terminal D expansion got underway because there were a number of carriers that wanted gate space at IAH but we did not have it to offer. Once the expansion is complete, I wonder what carriers are likely to announce new service. I'd like to see direct routes to MAD, FCO, ZRH, JNB, or a few new Southeast Asia routes introduced. Does anybody have any inside as to what is likely to be considered next? I don't consider anything to Mexico or the Caribbean exciting. Edited August 21 by wxman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBTX Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 (edited) I unfortunately lack insight, but I do have a wishlist: -Singapore Airlines returns with IAH-ICN-SIN -ZipAir to Tokyo -United to MAD or BCN -Vietnam Airlines to HAN -Anyone to BKK -Anyone to Cape Town The last few are just outside the operational distance of a streamline, but I can also imagine the opportunity for 5th freedom (IAH-LAX-HAN, for example) Edited August 22 by JBTX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asubrt Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 The only one that seems more than likely is United to Brussels, if the Lufthansa Group makes BRU their African focus city as they’ve discussed recently. There are certainly a lot of other possibilities (ZRH, MAD, FCO, BCN, ICN, PVG, LIS) on United or other carriers, but I wouldn’t say any one is likely to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyt36 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 (edited) 1 hour ago, wxman said: We've lost Korean, Ethiopian, Southwest, Singapore airlines while United cut Paris a few years ago and cut Sydney down to seasonal. Also, Air China and SAS. And China Airlines and PIA from not that long ago. And Interjet, but they went under. 1 hour ago, wxman said: I realize not all these cuts came at once but we don't have near the foreign flags that DFW. When SQ leaves IAH and Fiji Airways starts service to DFW, DFW will have the same number of foreign flags as IAH for the first time in a very long time, if not going back to the 1980s. By my count, DFW has added 4 net new foreign flags in the past decade (i.e., since 2014), while IAH has gained a net 2. However, on the IAH side you have airlines like WestJet and Volaris El Salvador that count just as much in that equation for IAH as Finnair and Iberia do for DFW. However once the B redevelopment is complete, there is the potential for a major buildup of the hub again and from what I have heard that is the plan--of course there's a lot of things that can happen economy-wise between now and 2026 that can derail those plans and make UA retire 200 planes in one fell swoop as they have before. At least UA is in much better shape than AA. If I had to guess, Air China and Ethiopian will probably eventually be back, and I'd say Riyadh Air is almost a certainty. Copa has historically not served IAH due to the old CO relationship but I don't believe there are any restrictions on it serving IAH now--for balancing would probably require UA to take over some PTY capacity from Copa from another hub. Air India has considered it, but North Texas is a much larger Indian market, and the route is quite a stretch distance-wise. LH is supposedly considering an Africa hub at BRU in connection with SN that would be part of the United joint venture, but UA could as easily end up serving IAH-BRU as SN. ZRH is just not that big of a market and MUC isn't even year-round and is flown on the smallest TATL aircraft in the fleet. If Houston continues developing as a secondary hub for Latin businesses, I'd say LATAM is going to have to serve IAH soon enough. BKK doesn't even have a nonstop to anywhere in North America due to its geography, not to mention a plane can't fly it (until the A350XLR)--no way that'd ever happen. HAN is a big market but awful fares for that stage length. A direct flight with fifth freedom rights, maybe, but that's a big maybe. IAH-CPT, again, also long and thin--the most difficult routes to make work. The truth of the matter is Houston's geography is naturally horrible for Europe and Asia. When combined with the fact that UA has hubs that are the best in the country for serving both (can't do better than NYC, DC, and Chicago for Europe and SF and LA for the Pacific), I don't see much opportunity. AA doesn't have a choice but to fly from DFW--I think the only long-haul destination it flies to year-round from ORD now, for example, is LHR. The unfortunate thing is that IAH is probably a top contributor to long-haul connections at AA's DFW hub. Edited August 22 by mattyt36 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 (edited) Let's not get too carried away. Per the airlines listed on their respective websites, I believe we still have more foreign carriers than DFW. DFW has inched slightly ahead of IAH this year in international traffic (although Houston still leads Dallas-Fort Worth, because of the international traffic at HOU). We'll see what the future brings as our facilities get updated. To add a bit of context: Korean flew to Houston from 2014 - 2017. They halted service to Houston 7 years ago. Ethiopian flew to Houston for 5 months in 2020. Halted their service 4+ years ago. Southwest served IAH pretty briefly and of course did not have international flights. United cut Paris a very long time ago (2012) If we're talking about such long periods of time, the airport has also added flights and carriers. Edited August 22 by Houston19514 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 In related news, construction continues to progress. Earlier this month TSA began operating the new international recheck area in the International Central Processor. https://www.fly2houston.com/newsroom/releases/construction-update-new-tsa-recheck-opens-connecting-international-passengers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbg.50 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 FRA >> IAH is the coveted flight from Europe to Houston. Back on U.S. soil by 1:30 P.M. and customs is a breeze. I avoid EWR on any flights to/from anywhere in Europe. Business travelers from Houston fly IAH and United internationally no matter how many carriers DFW has. Nobody wants to take that 30 minute flight to DFW just to fly American. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyt36 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 1 hour ago, hbg.50 said: Business travelers from Houston fly IAH and United internationally no matter how many carriers DFW has. That's what we call a simple truism--not sure what the insight is here. 1 hour ago, hbg.50 said: Nobody wants to take that 30 minute flight to DFW just to fly American. Wrong, according to the US DOT, an average of 120 passengers per day from IAH connected at DFW for international flights and another 22 from HOU. Passengers may not "want to take that 30-minute flight" but plenty do if the price is right, just like they do for domestic. Just like plenty of people connect over ORD, DFW, ATL, and other airports every day to get from IAH to NYC (and the same goes for DFW--that's how the airline business works, after all). So 144 in total from Houston, the equivalent numbers for AUS are 240 and for SAT are 152. Connecting over IAH from AUS and SAT: 268 and 201 respectively, so IAH gets more international connections from both airports than DFW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBTX Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 2 hours ago, hbg.50 said: Business travelers from Houston fly IAH and United internationally no matter how many carriers DFW has. Nobody wants to take that 30 minute flight to DFW just to fly American. No, but I 100% will fly 30 minutes to fly JAL instead of UA or ANA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyt36 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 14 hours ago, Houston19514 said: Let's not get too carried away. Per the airlines listed on their respective websites, I believe we still have more foreign carriers than DFW. DFW has inched slightly ahead of IAH this year in international traffic (although Houston still leads Dallas-Fort Worth, because of the international traffic at HOU). We'll see what the future brings as our facilities get updated. To add a bit of context: Korean flew to Houston from 2014 - 2017. They halted service to Houston 7 years ago. Ethiopian flew to Houston for 5 months in 2020. Halted their service 4+ years ago. Southwest served IAH pretty briefly and of course did not have international flights. United cut Paris a very long time ago (2012) If we're talking about such long periods of time, the airport has also added flights and carriers. Foreign flag carriers serving both IAH and DFW (11): Aeromexico, Air Canada, Air France, Avianca, British Airways, Emirates, Lufthansa, Qatar, Turkish, Viva Aerobus, Volaris Carriers serving only IAH (6): Air New Zealand, ANA, EVA, KLM, Volaris El Salvador, WestJet (excluding Singapore) . . . 2 of these are short-haul Carriers serving only DFW (6): Fiji Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan, Korean, Qantas . . . all are long-haul Since 2015, IAH has lost Air China, Interjet (defunct), Korean, SAS, and now Singapore. Ethiopian started and ended since 2015. (I've selectively omitted brief service on Bahamasair and BWIA.) Since 2015, DFW has lost Cayman, Etihad, and WestJet. Icelandair, Interjet (defunct), KLM, and Wow (defunct) started and ended since 2015. There's a big difference between losing Icelandair and losing Korean and Singapore. And Volaris El Salvador just ain't the same as Finnair. 10 years ago, the numbers were in IAHs favor, but I guess that was a "very long time ago" so it doesn't matter? (Not sure how UA ending CDG in 2012 somehow doesn't count . . . it's not like they added it back. Meanwhile, DFW has additional service service to CDG on AF and MAD on IB as well as nonstops to AMS (on AA), BCN, DUB, FCO, HEL, IST, and MUC. Guess IAH got MUC too, so all is well?) But I don't want to get "too carried away," of course . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 International Traffic Report: JANUARY 2024: Bush Intercontinental: 964,800 (up 9.6% from 2023) Hobby International: 78,335 (down 4.6% from 2023) Houston Total: 1,043,135 (up 8.4% from 2023) DFW: 965,797 (up 12.6% from 2023) San Antonio: 53,895 (up 17.5% from 2023) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 (edited) International Traffic Report: FEBRUARY 2024: Bush Intercontinental: 853,701 (up 11.6% from 2023) Hobby International: 77,033 (up 0.7%% from 2023) Houston Total: 930,734 (up 10.6% from 2023) DFW: 881,521 (up 19% from 2023) San Antonio: 42,201 (up 23% from 2023) YTD 2024: Bush Intercontinental: 1,818,501 (up 10.5% from 2023) Hobby International: 155,368 (down 2% from 2023) Houston Total: 1,973,869 (up 9.4% from 2023) DFW: 1,830,001 (up 15.6% from 2023) San Antonio: 96,096 (up 19.9% from 2023) Edited August 22 by Houston19514 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 International Traffic Report: March 2024: Bush Intercontinental: 1,022,877, (up 8.5% from 2023) Hobby International: 101,532, (up 11.4%% from 2023) Houston Total: 1,124,409 (up 8.8% from 2023) DFW: 1,075,172 (up 18.6% from 2023) San Antonio: 58,618 (up 35.7% from 2023) YTD 2024: Bush Intercontinental: 2,841,378 (up 9.8% from 2023) Hobby International: 256,900 (up 2.9% from 2023) Houston Total: 3,098,278 (up 9.2% from 2023) DFW: 2,890,866 (up 16.6% from 2023) San Antonio: 154,714 (up 25.4% from 2023) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 International Traffic Report: April 2024: Bush Intercontinental: 936,215, (up 3.9% from 2023) Hobby International: 81,938, (down 1.2%% from 2023) Houston Total: 1,018,153 (up 3.5% from 2023) DFW: 948,556 (up 8.3% from 2023) San Antonio: 49,628 (up 10.5% from 2023) YTD 2024: Bush Intercontinental: 3,777,593 (up 8.3% from 2023) Hobby International: 338,838 (up 1.9% from 2023) Houston Total: 4,116,431 (up 7.7% from 2023) DFW: 3,871,046 (up 15.7% from 2023) San Antonio: 154,714 (up 25.4% from 2023) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 International Traffic Report: May 2024: Bush Intercontinental: 1,029,429, (up 8% from 2023) Hobby International: 81,851, (up 0.8%% from 2023) Houston Total: 1,111,280 (up 7.4% from 2023) DFW: 1,063,630 (up 3.6% from 2023) San Antonio: 55,899 (up 24.4% from 2023) YTD 2024: Bush Intercontinental: 4,807,022 (up 8.2% from 2023) Hobby International: 420,689 (up 1.7% from 2023) Houston Total: 5,227,711 (up 7.6% from 2023) DFW: 4,934,676 (up 15.3% from 2023) San Antonio: 260,241 (up 22% from 2023) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 International Traffic Report: June 2024: Bush Intercontinental: 1,166,110, (up 5% from 2023) Hobby International: 113,111, (up 13.9% from 2023) Houston Total: 1,279,221 (up 5.8% from 2023) DFW: 1,243,368 (up 4.2% from 2023) San Antonio: 73,297 (up 20.3% from 2023) YTD 2024: Bush Intercontinental: 5,973,132 (up 7.6% from 2023) Hobby International: 533,800 (up 4% from 2023) Houston Total: 6,506,932 (up 7.3% from 2023) DFW: 6,178,044 (up 14.5% from 2023) San Antonio: 333,538 (up 21.7% from 2023) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted September 6 Share Posted September 6 Architect - https://www.pgal.com https://www.pgal.com/projects/united-airlines-terminal-b-transformation-program-at-george-bush-intercontinental-airport 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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