Charleston ready for Southwest

Travelers and tourism officials agree: Southwest Airlines can't touch down in Charleston fast enough.

Newly released figures from the government show that Charleston International Airport posted the biggest hike in airfares between the first quarters of 2009 and 2010, reflecting the departure of low-fare carrier AirTran last December.

The average ticket from Charleston jumped 16.1 percent year-over-year to $443, the U.S. Department of Transportation said in a report issued Wednesday.

Both figures are well above the national average: The average U.S. domestic fare in the first three months of this 2010 rose to $328, a nearly 5 percent increase, according data compiled by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

The government's latest quarterly statistics include the ticket price as well as taxes and security fees. They don't include other costs such as luggage surcharges that most carriers have adopted.

Charleston's unenviable ranking at the top of the DOT list was not entirely unexpected.

"It's a direct reflection of AirTran leaving the market," said Mary Graham, senior vice president for public policy at the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce

Graham and other local business promoters are banking that the arrival of the low-fare kingpin will force rival airlines to lower their ticket prices, as was the case when AirTran came to town. Dallas-based Southwest announced plans this year to inaugurate service at Charleston International early 2011, but it has not released any other details.

"It can't come quickly enough," commented David Jennings, chairman if the Charleston County Aviation Authority, which runs the airport.

"Southwest is blue-chip airline: It will do dramatic things in this market," he added.

Until then, local air travelers can expect little short-term relief from rising prices, as it's unlikely that another low-cost airline will try to get a head start in Charleston on Southwest.

The absence of AirTran has already made a sizable dent in traffic volume at the airport, Jennings said. After the discount carrier launched its first local flight in 2007, the number of enplanements jumped to about 1.25 million from 1 million annually, as more travelers discovered that flying out of Charleston had become more affordable on many routes.

"With AirTran's departure, we're trending down to around 1.1 million," Jennings said. "We haven't lost all of the new passengers, but we've lost a lot of them."

Helen Hill, executive director of the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that "leakage" includes travelers who now drive rather than fly. Other use airports served by a low-cost carrier such as Myrtle Beach's.