'biznes Volume 1 - Greater Sudbury's #voiceofbusiness

THERE’S JUST SOMETHING
IN THE AIR… OH, WAIT, IT’S PLANES!
Terra Glabb
Director of Business Development
Greater Sudbury Airport
Commercial air travel seems to be shrouded in a fog of
mystery. No one really understands the algorithms
of when to book, when to travel and which airlines
to choose. Is it really cheaper to fly from home, or does it
make more sense to drive? We get it. The decisions
aren’t easy. And if you look at past travel history
locally, when we were faced with commercial
air service monopoly, the decision was
easy. It was just too plane expensive to fly.
Pardon the pun. So what’s changed, where
are we today as opposed to those crazy days
when a return flight to Toronto would cost
upwards of $1,000?
We’ve entered the era of airline competition.
Sudbury travellers have alternatives. Long gone are
the days where air travel was only available to those who were
travelling on the company dollar. Porter and Air Canada both
excellent, internationally awarded airlines, are vying for your
travel allegiance. So why then, are we still seeing thousands of
travellers taking to the highway each year to either end their
travel journey in Toronto, or begin them at Toronto Pearson
International. We’re trying to answer that same question.
Our community, specifically, the Greater Sudbury
Airport suffers from a condition commonly known in the
aviation industry as ‘leakage’. This is when a local traveller
by-passes their community airport altogether in favour of
other travel options or airports. This choice is most often
driven by price, followed by connections and travel time.
In Greater Sudbury, we lose approximately
200,000 travellers annually from leakage.
Considering our airport moves an average of
230,000 passengers a year, this is significant
and creates a challenge (and opportunity)
for us. Seeing as the largest motivator for
passengers leakage is price, we’re hoping
that travellers are considering all factors into
their decision before choosing an alternative
travel option. Ticket price alone shouldn’t be
the determining factor. Travellers must also
consider the fuel, wear and tear on vehicles,
incidentals and meals, possible overnight
stays and certainly the most precious
commodity, time.
By having a competitive airline
pricing environment at the Greater
Sudbury Airport, often, you may
find that the cost of fuel, meals and
lodging alone make a solid business
case to save money by flying directly
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#voiceofbusiness Volume 1
from Sudbury. We understand that varying circumstances may
affect your decision to fly from home; perhaps you’re visiting
friends in Toronto before your big trip to Punta Cana, or you’re
heading south for an annual shopping spree that simply won’t
fit in one small carry-on. We won’t fault you for this,
sometimes driving makes sense. What we are
asking, is that you at least consider the option
of air travel. Look at the fares, destinations and
connections, taking into consideration your
time and money, and you might find that often,
flying from home is the logical decision.
We’ve all heard the famous ‘use it or lose it’
analogy. The same goes for air travel. Airlines
must remain profitable in order to continue to
provide air service to a community, and especially so to
expand services and destinations. By making the decision to fly
from home, you are helping to create a sustainable passenger
market for existing airlines, as well as building the case for
attracting new airlines. The more we can reduce our leakage
and increase air travel from Sudbury, the better position we’ll
be in to continue to create a competitive commercial airline
sector locally; which in the long run will continue to benefit
you, the traveller, with lower fares and more travel options.
And let’s be honest, hopping onto a plane sounds a whole lot
better than a white-knuckle drive to Toronto on one of our
snowy, northern winter days.