Midsize Aircraft Seen Boosting Las Vegas
By Chris Jones, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Oct. 26–Could the pending introduction of midsize aircraft capable of fuel-efficient intercontinental air service bring more foreign visitors to Las Vegas?
Bet on it, a panel of aviation experts said Tuesday at Henderson’s Green Valley Ranch, site of this week’s three-day Las Vegas World Aviation Forum.
Not long from now, skies across the globe will abound with jets operated by low-cost carriers similar to Southwest Airlines or JetBlue Airways.
Unlike today’s low-cost carriers, which primarily limit service to routes within their home nations, sources said pending changes in aircraft technology will soon allow for more point-to-point service on overseas routes.
Just ask Andrew Pyne, chief executive officer of Macau Eagle Aviation. His startup carrier — which will operate under a yet-to-be announced brand name — will begin flying from southern China sometime next year. Pyne said that as its fleet grows, routes will extend beyond Asia to the Middle East, Russia, Western Europe and eventually the United States.
“We’d love to operate to Las Vegas once we have the right equipment,” Pyne said, though he added Honolulu would likely be its first U.S. stop.
Macau Eagle Aviation will wait a few more weeks before it decides whether it will use Airbus or Boeing aircraft. Regardless of whose jets carry the passengers, Drew Magill, a director with Boeing Commercial Airplanes, agreed an expansion of low-cost international service is coming.
Among the key drivers, Magill said, is the pending introduction of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, which he believes low-cost carriers will use to “create new markets.”
Southern Nevada’s top aviation official also said the 787 could produce direct Las Vegas service from foreign markets that would struggle to fill the larger jets that dominate today’s overseas routes.
The Dreamliner will have 223 to 296 seats, far fewer than the 440-seat Boeing 747 or the 555-seat Airbus A380, which comes online next year.
“The Dreamliner has capability to do on an international level what the 737-700 does for domestic service,” said Randall Walker, Clark County’s director of aviation. “We’re hoping foreign airline leaders will see this (aircraft) and say, ‘Now we’ve got the chance to fly direct’ ” to and from Las Vegas.
The top carrier at McCarran International Airport, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, has enjoyed dramatic growth in Las Vegas in recent years because of the addition of long-haul routes to cities such as Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Manchester, N.H.
Such service was made possible largely by the 737-700′s moderate seating capacity and improved fuel efficiency — both characteristics Walker said parallel favorably with those of the Dreamliner, which Boeing will deliver to airlines beginning in 2008.
Barry Eccleston, president and CEO of Airbus North America, said Asian markets — particularly China and India — offer the most potential for low-cost carriers, though China’s regulatory restrictions and India’s poor infrastructure present significant obstacles to early growth.
Another big challenge, panelists said, stems from a surging demand for state-of-the-art aircraft. Eccleston said Airbus already has commitments for each new aircraft it will build into 2009, while Magill added most major U.S. carriers have yet to order new planes to upgrade older models in their fleets. Once those orders arrive, it will become even more difficult for startup airlines to get new aircraft, he said.
“Our success has caught up with us,” Eccleston said.
Xianping Wang, an expert on Chinese aviation, believes that production bottlenecks could someday prompt Chinese manufacturers to develop and build wide-bodied aircraft, either in cooperation with or competing against Airbus and Boeing.
Labor issues could also hinder new carriers, panelists said. For example, Pyne said Macau Eagle Aviation plans to pay its pilots between $80,000 to $100,000 per year, well below the $200,000 annual base offered by giants such as Pyne’s former employer, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways.
This is the first Las Vegas World Aviation Forum hosted by the Clark County Department of Aviation in partnership with GCW Consulting, an Arlington, Va.-based firm. Organizers said 174 people registered, including 30 foreigners, 18 of whom came from Asia. Clark County could host similar gatherings in the future, Walker said.
The World Aviation Forum, which is closed to the public, ends today.
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