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IAH Vs. DFW


wxman

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I'm curious: what makes IAH better off than DFW? Size wise we are smaller. However we have more international airlines. DFW has Qantas. We have Emirates. Are we going to be getting any other airlines that'll help IAH stay competitive with DFW? What carriers do they have that we don't and is there any hope of attracting them to Houston? Lot's of questions but just curious..

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The energy industry is what is helping Houston with international flights. KLM & United both make a killing on their Amsterdam flights which then connect on to the Middle East and Africa.

That is why we now have both Qatar and Emirates (whom I believe is now going back to twice daily). Also why United now flies non-stop to Lagos.

It also helps the BA and United flights to London for the North Sea work. Oil really lubricates things in more than ways than one.

I think DFW has Korean Air flights and Qantas flights that we don't. (we have cargo from Korean I believe, not passenger flights). Part of it is demand and part of it is Houston is really far south and some flights aren't feasible non-stop (like Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc.)

From what I've heard, our best new bets for international flights (besides the already announced United to New Zealand) are either Beijing or Shanghai and a couple more to South America.

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The only airlines I see that DFW has, and that we don't, starting operations here is VX. QF started service because DFW is a huge oneworld hub. KE had hinted long ago about starting service to IAH, however, that was before CO moved to Star Alliance.

I could see either UA or another Star Alliance partner starting service to China, and TK has hinted from time to time about flying here as well (although I wouldn't hold my breath about flying non-stop to Instanbul soon).

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Unfortunately DFW has Emirates as well, as those filthy bloodsuckers stole our second daily flight (just kidding... kind of). But I've also heard that a second daily might be coming back fairly soon. Spirit also has been opening a ton of new domestic routes at DFW, in addition to maybe one or two Mexican ones. Virgin America recently entered the market as well, but it does seem like they will be here within the next several years. Also Cayman Airways is starting a flight from Dallas to the Cayman Islands, which isn't that major in the grand scheme of things, but still, I'd rather them fly here than there.

Other than the aforementioned Korean Air/Qantas and the relatively inconsequential Sun Country Airlines, that's about it that they have over us, other than the elusive Santiago (Chile) flight on American that United can't seem to get around to starting from IAH. We of course have Air France (it always makes me chuckle that Dallas doesn't have an AF flight anymore), Singapore to Moscow/Singapore, Qatar, Aeromexico, VivaAerobus, and more Air Canada service. On the whole I think they are the bigger domestic airport while we are bigger internationally, but I'm not sure about that.

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On the whole I think they are the bigger domestic airport while we are bigger internationally, but I'm not sure about that.

Correct. DFW is substantially larger than IAH domestically. IAH is substantialy larger internationally.

Annual International passenger traffic:

DFW: approx. 5 Million

IAH: approx. 8.5 Million

Annual total passenger traffic:

DFW: approx. 58 Million

IAH: approx. 40 Million

Interestingly, around 20 years ago, DFW had 3 times as many total passengers as IAH. Now, as you can see above, DFW has 45% more total passengers. (IAH has 70% more interntational traffic than DFW)

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The latest stats I can track down:

DFW: 144 domestic destinations + 44 intl = 188 total (AA hub has 770 daily departures to 160 destinations = 123 domestic + 37 intl)

IAH: 115 domestic + 68 intl = 183 total (United hub around 620 daily departures, ~167 destinations)

They win on total flights, passengers, and domestic destinations (which you'd expect given their better domestic hub geography). We win on intl destinations mainly because of the energy industry. I do think DFW will get scaled back when SWA gets fully out from under the Wright amendment at Love Field, as well as under a USAir-AA merger, where it would be somewhat redundant with the Phoenix hub.

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It seems like Dallas has tended to do better with trans-Pacific flying. In addition to the Korean Air flight, and new Qantas flt, AA has double daily service to Tokyo.

Both airports are served by Air Canada, BA, KLM, Lufthansa, and Emirates. IAH has more frequency to AMS, CDG, and GIG. DFW has more to GRU, NRT, and LHR.

I think the major international markets and/or passenger carriers that are unique to each airport are like this:

DFW

Brisbane/Sydney (Qantas)

Madrid (AA)

Santiago (AA)

Seoul (Korean)

IAH

Doha (Qatar)

Lagos (United)

Lima (United)

Moscow/Singapore (Singapore)

Paris (AF) not unique, but on AF, which is

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While IAH does have more international destinations than DFW, a good portion of the total are regional jets to smaller secondary Mexico markets. These do count toward international, but they don't have the same economic impact or profile as intercontinental routes. Continental was certainly successful exploiting IAH's proximity to Mexico in developing these routes.

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  • 1 month later...

D/FW Airport plans for international expansion

http://www.bizjourna...bal-portal.html

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is planning for significant growth in international destinations in the coming decade, a change that could position it to be one of a few “global portals” in the world.

When it comes to international flying, D/FW Airport currently hosts 12 airlines that serve 48 international destinations.

Airport CEO Jeff Fegan said the airport’s projection for the most-likely growth scenario over the next five years includes adding 26 new international destinations served by eight new airlines. That includes direct flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Istanbul, Abu Dhabi, Barcelona, Istanbul, Lima, Quito, Bogota and other cities.

...described the industry as developing toward "global portals" that serve at least 80 or 90 international destinations, while also providing enough connectivity to domestic destinations to meet market demands....

Dubai, with 120 to 130 global destinations, is the world’s only global portal at present, Boyd said. But airports in the United States, particularly Houston, Atlanta and D/FW, are competing for the same kind of business in North America.

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I'm going to call a little BS on this. First, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Frankfurt are clearly global portals too. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Seoul also have a good case.

Second, this seems unlikely in the U.S. until we make it much easier for international customers to connect through the U.S. to another country without going through our immigration, visa, and customs hassles. Houston would be a great connecting point from Asia to Latin America if we made this easier. I think I read once that Canada has made this easier through Vancouver and Toronto.

Third, I'd say DFW has the weakest case vs. Atlanta (many more connecting destinations and flights) and Houston (HQ of the global energy industry = strong O&D traffic). Another problem with DFW is that AA prefers to route its Latin America traffic through Miami. And if their OneWorld partners are looking for domestic US connections, Chicago, LA, and NYC/JFK make more sense geographically.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Quote from Houston 19514's comment. "For purposes of comparison, IAH currently hosts 13 airlines (with a 14th scheduled to start service next year), serving approximately 71 international destinations."

I had a very excellent comment written, but somooow lost it, literally--and I am not going to spend another hour re-composing it. Hopefully, it posted, but I doubt it. However, "Houston19514" is completely incorrect with his facts. IAH currently hosts 17 airlines--soon to be 19; not 13 soon to be 14. And this number does not take into account those additional airlines with either charter service or special trips. The two additional airlines are Turkish early 2013 and Spirit Airlines whose service to DFW starts next month.

For example DFW is served by Sun Country on a scheduled basis, but serves IAH only when there is a need. IAH serves 61 international destinations, but these are all non-stop. I could be wrong, but I would imagine that DFW's 71 destinations are both direct and non-stop. The only flight I did count in IAH's 61 destinations was Singapore because there is a stop in Moscow. I would not be surprised if Lufthansa were to drop service to Frankfort as DFW is Lufthansa's weakest link to any US destination.

Sorry Houston19514, but I felt it was better to get the facts straight. Nothing personal against you, of course.

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Quote from Houston 19514's comment. "For purposes of comparison, IAH currently hosts 13 airlines (with a 14th scheduled to start service next year), serving approximately 71 international destinations."

I had a very excellent comment written, but somooow lost it, literally--and I am not going to spend another hour re-composing it. Hopefully, it posted, but I doubt it. However, "Houston19514" is completely incorrect with his facts. IAH currently hosts 17 airlines--soon to be 19; not 13 soon to be 14. And this number does not take into account those additional airlines with either charter service or special trips. The two additional airlines are Turkish early 2013 and Spirit Airlines whose service to DFW starts next month.

For example DFW is served by Sun Country on a scheduled basis, but serves IAH only when there is a need. IAH serves 61 international destinations, but these are all non-stop. I could be wrong, but I would imagine that DFW's 71 destinations are both direct and non-stop. The only flight I did count in IAH's 61 destinations was Singapore because there is a stop in Moscow. I would not be surprised if Lufthansa were to drop service to Frankfort as DFW is Lufthansa's weakest link to any US destination.

Sorry Houston19514, but I felt it was better to get the facts straight. Nothing personal against you, of course.

Welcome to the forum. ;-)

Let's take a look at the facts I supposedly had completely incorrect:

My airline count was for airlines with international service, just as the referenced DFW airline count was just for those with international service. I believe your count is for all airlines, domestic and international, a rather irrelevant number when the discussion is international service.

I said IAH had approximately 71 destinations. I posted that from memory and it's a little difficult to come up with an exact count, hence the word "approximately" in my post. I have now done a hand count and I come up with 73 international destinations served from IAH. Like you, I included Singapore in my count. Not sure why you came up with only 61, but it does appear to be incorrect. (Changes coming that we know of will drop IAH's international destination count to 72 - United is dropping Toluca and Tuxtula Guiterrez. Turkish will be adding Istanbul.)

FWIW, the article stated 48 international destinations for DFW, not the 71 stated by RLB222. With the way DFW generally promotes itself, I would suspect that includes both nonstop and direct destinations.

Sorry RLB222, but I felt it was better to keep the facts straight. ;-)

Here are the current destinations:

Chihuahua, Los Cabos, Torreon, Saltillo, Monterrey, Durango, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Guadalajara, Morelia, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Acapulco, Mexico City, San Luis Potosi, Tampico, Aguascalientes, Queretaro, Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca, Huatulco, Villhermosa, Merida, Cancun, Cozumel, Ciudad del Carmn, hermosillo, Belize, Roatan, San Pedro Sula, Tegulcigalpa, Guatamala City, San Salvador, Managua, Liberia, San Jose, Grand Cayman, Montego Bay, Port-au-Prince, Nassau, Panama City, Aruba, Bonaire, Caracas, Port of Spain, Punta Cana, San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Tokyo, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Lagos, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Moscow, Singapore, Dubai, Doha, Toluca, Tuxtula, Guiterrez, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Bogota, Lima, Quito

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Here are the current destinations:

Chihuahua, Los Cabos, Torreon, Saltillo, Monterrey, Durango, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Guadalajara, Morelia, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Acapulco, Mexico City, San Luis Potosi, Tampico, Aguascalientes, Queretaro, Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca, Huatulco, Villhermosa, Merida, Cancun, Cozumel, Ciudad del Carmn, hermosillo, Belize, Roatan, San Pedro Sula, Tegulcigalpa, Guatamala City, San Salvador, Managua, Liberia, San Jose, Grand Cayman, Montego Bay, Port-au-Prince, Nassau, Panama City, Aruba, Bonaire, Caracas, Port of Spain, Punta Cana, San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Tokyo, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Lagos, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Moscow, Singapore, Dubai, Doha, Toluca, Tuxtula, Guiterrez, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Bogota, Lima, Quito

Unfortunately, as much as I hate to say anything negative about a post championing IAH, a few of those destinations are not correct. Punta Cana, Port-au-Prince, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten are not served from IAH, as far as I know. It's pretty surprising, especially that there is no DR service anymore, but I guess Mexico is closer. Even so, a connection in Newark is pretty out of the way for some of those eastern Caribbean destinations. I was hoping that they would add some Caribbean service, but with their recent decision to punish us for no reason, that's doubtful at this point.

Also, they are cutting Mazatlan and Aruba in December/January respectively. So I guess we'll have to subtract 4 instead of 2 (and add Istanbul).

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Unfortunately, as much as I hate to say anything negative about a post championing IAH, a few of those destinations are not correct. Punta Cana, Port-au-Prince, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten are not served from IAH, as far as I know. It's pretty surprising, especially that there is no DR service anymore, but I guess Mexico is closer. Even so, a connection in Newark is pretty out of the way for some of those eastern Caribbean destinations. I was hoping that they would add some Caribbean service, but with their recent decision to punish us for no reason, that's doubtful at this point.

Also, they are cutting Mazatlan and Aruba in December/January respectively. So I guess we'll have to subtract 4 instead of 2 (and add Istanbul).

I can vouch for St Maarten. We will be going through MIA to get there.
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Some possible good news: just heard that Interjet has applied for IAH-Toluca service, possibly starting as soon as September. So we may not lose that destination after all. As someone on another board pointed out, this is likely to happen if UA leaves potentially profitable destinations: other carrier will step in and fill those voids. I'm hoping Air France upgauges their IAH-CDG flight after UA stops in October, but not holding my breath.

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Are observation decks still open at IAH?
You can view/photograph aircraft from the parking garages, just call (security dispatch) 281-230-1300 and let them know where you are and how long you will be there. It helps if the police come by and try and run you off. they will usually call dispatch and verify you and then move on. Also, you can visit www.houstonspotters.net and there is lots of information on observing aircraft at all three HAS airports.
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Some possible good news: just heard that Interjet has applied for IAH-Toluca service, possibly starting as soon as September. So we may not lose that destination after all. As someone on another board pointed out, this is likely to happen if UA leaves potentially profitable destinations: other carrier will step in and fill those voids. I'm hoping Air France upgauges their IAH-CDG flight after UA stops in October, but not holding my breath.
it seems like I can recall a few years back them doing this and pulling a no show. Hopefully this time they will follow through.
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Unfortunately, as much as I hate to say anything negative about a post championing IAH, a few of those destinations are not correct. Punta Cana, Port-au-Prince, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten are not served from IAH, as far as I know. It's pretty surprising, especially that there is no DR service anymore, but I guess Mexico is closer. Even so, a connection in Newark is pretty out of the way for some of those eastern Caribbean destinations. I was hoping that they would add some Caribbean service, but with their recent decision to punish us for no reason, that's doubtful at this point.

Also, they are cutting Mazatlan and Aruba in December/January respectively. So I guess we'll have to subtract 4 instead of 2 (and add Istanbul).

You are correct. I misread the route map on those 4. Nevertheless, that leaves us with 69 current international destinations.

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  • 3 weeks later...

TK has hinted from time to time about flying here as well (although I wouldn't hold my breath about flying non-stop to Instanbul soon).

TK will be starting IAH-IST service on 01April 2013 with their 777-300ERs. They will have a late afternoon departure compared to when all the European departures on foreign carriers leave except for the 2nd BA flight to Heathrow.

I would not be surprised if Lufthansa were to drop service to Frankfort as DFW is Lufthansa's weakest link to any US destination.

A bit of history, LH served FRA-DFW in the late 80s first and then added FRA-DFW-IAH extension. I believe in the 90s they gave each city their own nonstop, and now IAH gets the A380 while DFW gets an A330.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

The word from the Director of Airports is that IAH is getting another new international carrier and destination next year. A major Asian carrier. Sounds like it's a done deal, but not yet public. My guess is Air China with flights to Beijing. (Or it could be Asiana, with flights to Seoul)

Please let it be Asiana. Incredible airline and Seoul is a wonderful connection airport to points in SE Asia.

OZ would compliment SQ, QR, and EK quite nicely.

If I were a bettin' man, I'd say it will be NH to NRT to complement UA's existing daily service.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 10 months later...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2013/10/16/american-airlines-adding-shanghai-nights-with-expanded-asia-presence/

 

In response to customer demand, American Airlines announced on Wednesday that it will add more routes to Asia in 2014. The airline said it will launch its first-ever nonstop service from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) next year, likely in the summer (pending regulatory approval).

 

The new daily service between DFW and Hong Kong will be operated with a Boing 777-300ER, American’s self-proclaimed “flagship” aircraft. This will be the first time American deploys this particular aircraft to Asia; the DFW-Shanghai will use the 777-200 aircraft. Both routes will be operated as part of American’s joint business agreement with fellow oneworld alliance member Japan Airlines.

 

This addition comes as the company prepares to lose its service from New York/JFK to Toyko; the last eastbound flight there will take place on Dec. 1, 2013.

 

 ‏@dfwairport: This makes 17 new int'l destinations added at #DFW in the past 3 years, for a total of 56 int'l, 148 domestic = 204 unique destinations.

 

http://airchive.com/blog/2013/10/16/dallas-goes-china-american-airlines-launch-service-shanghai-hong-kong/

 

 

For its part Shanghai does not appear to offer American much on its face besides a decent chance at consistently filling business class cabins. Hong Kong makes more sense, as passengers can easily connect to further destinations in Asia via partner Cathay Pacific and, to a much lesser extent, JAL.

 

...American began service from DFW to Seoul, South Korea earlier this year in May, which along with today’s announcement bolsters the likelihood that Dallas is being developed in part for its ability to connect passengers onward through the network. In particular AA’s DFW hub is well positioned to access the carriers highly developed network into Latin and South America.

 

DFW is also largely untouched for expansion into Asia, leaving American free (for now) to try the routes out without any competition. The airport’s only other service to Asia is via Korean to Seoul, while the next nearest city to have any service to the continent is Houston via United to Japan and Air China to China.

 

 

 

 

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This honestly upsets me to an unimaginable degree (I'm a skyscraper and airport/airplane aficionado). Houston is losing it's dominance as a Texan international gateway all because a corporate CEO is throwing the biggest B**** fit anyone has ever seen. It's sad to see Houston lose this, especially to Dallas! American Airlines is simply taking advantage of crippled Houston.

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Please do not be concerned, United Airlines is number 1 to Mexico.  They just announced wide bodies 767-300 next year from all the hubs to Europe.  They were flying 757-200s they are ready to compete with Delta Airlines head on.  They are expanding Terminal D at IAH and I have been on the Lufthansa Airlines 380 and it was full. Turkish Airlines load factor is 79%.  So there could be more Star Alliance carriers in IAH.  I do not know how Air China is doing, but I could see Singapore Airlines add another flight. DFW and American Airlines "One World" is too small and does not have no Asian market.  But TAM will be leaving next year so United needs another partner in South America.  I could see EVA AIR start flying from IAH.     

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