A Scheduled Vision in Florida

Vision Airlines is perhaps best known for its charter activities, but the small US airline has announced a significant expansion of its scheduled network with the launch of flights to 17 more destinations from Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS). The carrier inaugurated operations from the facility that serves the popular fishing and beach resort communities and spring break destinations of Destin and Fort Walton Beach, in December last year with twice weekly flights to Niagara Falls and Miami. However, it has now announced a massive expansion at the facility and will base two Boeing 737s and a Dornier 328 there from the end of March.

Source: Vision Airlines

“This is the largest commercial service expansion in the United States in over a decade,” Michael J Stenson, Business Development Manager, Northwest Florida Regional Airport told The HUB. “It will generate a regional economic ripple expected to produce nearly 4,200 in-direct jobs and bring a $160 million boost to the local economy - a huge windfall in the light of a sluggish economy and the fact it is a recovery year for the area from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.”

To launch the new services, Vision offered one-way tickets at an introductory fare of $49, but reportedly sold more than 12,000 during the first five days of trading, including all at its lowest fare category. It expects fares to average $79, according to a company representative.

Vision’s selection of VPS for this significant expansion is interesting. The new services will provide leisure and business travellers around the country a new, low-cost way to escape to the emerald-green beaches of Northwest Florida for weekend breaks or longer holidays. It will more than double passenger numbers at the airport, where scheduled traffic is currently limited to just regional jet flights to some of the country’s main hubs. According to Flightbase (January 14-20), Delta Air Lines is the largest operator at Northwest Florida Regional with 64 weekly flights to Atlanta and 19 to Memphis using a mix of Bombardier CRJ200s and CRJ700s. American Airlines offers a further 35 weekly flights to Dallas Ft Worth; US Airways has 27 flights per week to Cleveland, while Continental Airlines serves Houston twice daily with an Embraer ERJ 145.

However, it will face competition, albeit indirectly, from established low-cost rivals in the form of Southwest Airlines, which alongside Delta Air Lines provides regular flights from the new Panama City Airport which opened in Florida last year. Southwest currently serves it from Baltimore, Chicago Midway, Dallas Love Field, Houston Hobby and Orlando, with Delta offering connections to Atlanta and Memphis. It is quite clear that Vision would not have been able to compete with the carrier on price and its selection of Northwest Florida Regional, as well as complementary markets, is clearly part of a low-risk strategy to break into the Florida market, using Southwest’s own flights to stimulate demand into the region.

Vision is expected to further expand its scheduled activities as additional aircraft join its fleet this year and could seek to introduce additional flights from Gulfport in Mississippi or Las Vegas, where it already has limited scheduled operations.