As Mayor Donna Deegan and Jacksonville representatives spent time in London trying to establish support for a direct flight, Jacksonville Aviation Authority CEO Mark VanLoh said the JAA has been has been working on nonstop service to the capital of the United Kingdom for more than five years.
“The airport meets and pitches potential airlines that serve Europe about the possibility of a nonstop flight to Jacksonville,” he said in an email Oct. 31.
“At those meetings, which typically happen at conferences and airline headquarters, we make the business case that there is enough traffic between JAX and Europe to sustain a nonstop flight,” he said. Jacksonville International Airport is known as JAX.
VanLoh said they discuss the size of the market, synergies between the two communities, and other specific points.
“We don’t just do this for London service, but every major unserved market where there is significant passenger traffic,” he said.
It needs more than a wish.
“There are some major hurdles for an international nonstop – the biggest one is raising community incentive dollars to offer an airline a revenue guarantee for the first two to three years of service,” VanLoh said.
“Many mid-size cities that recently announced international service that are comparable to Jacksonville provide that guarantee to help mitigate an airline’s risk.”
VanLoh said the airport is prohibited by the Federal Aviation Administration from providing a revenue guarantee, “so those are funds that must be raised at the local or state level.”
“If Jacksonville is competing with another city for international service and all other factors are the same, it is going to be the community that offers a revenue guarantee that will get the nonstop flight,” he said.
A 16-member economic-development delegation that included Deegan, JAX Chamber leaders and other executives met with more than 75 businesses during their week in London tied to the Oct. 1 Jacksonville Jaguars game against the Atlanta Falcons at Wembley Stadium.
A big focus was creating a direct flight between Jacksonville and London.
The JAXUSA London Sales Mission 2023 was Sept. 23-Oct 2.
JAXUSA is the economic-development division of JAX Chamber
The Jaguars have been playing at least one game per season in London since 2013, except for 2020, when the pandemic shut down world travel.
VanLoh said Nov. 6 that any international European service “would be incredibly expensive to operate and come with considerable risk for an airline in an untested market.”
“These types of revenue guarantees are more common in mid-size cities seeking international service instead of major international gateways (Dulles, Miami or LAX for example),” he said.
Asked how much that would cost, VanLoh refers to recent announcements he shared in Cincinnati, San Antonio and Cleveland.
He said those revenue guarantees range between $6 million and $12 million.
“Each city is unique in how they structure revenue guarantees. Some cities have assistance from the state, the local business community or tourism entities. Each one is different,” he said.
“It’s important to note that for the revenue guarantee piece, the airport does not participate per the FAA guidelines because it would be considered a subsidy to an airline, which is prohibited.”
VanLoh said what JAA is allowed to do – “and would absolutely do for international service” – is waive landing and rental fees for up to two years, which he said is the maximum amount permitted by FAA, and offer support to advertise the flight when announced for the first two years.