George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)

[asubrt]

6 hours ago, wilcal said:

UA adding 4x weekly IAH-GEO flights.

I would def go if the price ever got cheap!

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/united-expands-in-houston-with-2-6b-terminal-project-state-of-the-art-baggage-system-new-club-and-thousands-of-new-jobs-302002015.html

Wow! Didn't see these mentioned, but United is also adding 2x daily service to the new Tulum airport beginning March 23, and 1x weekly service to Santa Fe, NM beginning March 9. It's still a few cry from the way they'll add 7 long haul routes out of SFO at a time (for example), but this is an absolute bounty of new routes for IAH considering the way United has shafted us over the past several years.

[wilcal]

1 hour ago, asubrt said:

Wow! Didn't see these mentioned, but United is also adding 2x daily service to the new Tulum airport beginning March 23, and 1x weekly service to Santa Fe, NM beginning March 9. It's still a few cry from the way they'll add 7 long haul routes out of SFO at a time (for example), but this is an absolute bounty of new routes for IAH considering the way United has shafted us over the past several years.

I had heard of the new Tulum route (I thought it started March 31) but I am SHOCKED it has taken this long to get a Santa Fe route. 

I know ABQ isn't that far away, but when I went last year I would have loved to ditch a car in Santa Fe as much of the things I wanted to do could have been accomplished with an Uber or bike. 

[asubrt]

14 minutes ago, wilcal said:

I had heard of the new Tulum route (I thought it started March 31) but I am SHOCKED it has taken this long to get a Santa Fe route. 

I know ABQ isn't that far away, but when I went last year I would have loved to ditch a car in Santa Fe as much of the things I wanted to do could have been accomplished with an Uber or bike. 

You're right on the start date, I got it confused with the LAX-TQO start date which is May 23.

[mattyt36]

11 hours ago, wilcal said:

Yikes. I just noticed the border lines between the two countries is dotted on Google Maps. 

There's a chance that the Dynamo will play a game in Suriname next February, so maybe that'll satisfy my hunger for checking out a lesser-known northern coast of SA country. 

 

You’d def be on a very (relatively) short list of people in the entire history of the world who have visited Suriname! 
 

5 hours ago, asubrt said:

Wow! Didn't see these mentioned, but United is also adding 2x daily service to the new Tulum airport beginning March 23, and 1x weekly service to Santa Fe, NM beginning March 9. It's still a few cry from the way they'll add 7 long haul routes out of SFO at a time (for example), but this is an absolute bounty of new routes for IAH considering the way United has shafted us over the past several years.

You made my evening with the SAF news!

[wilcal]

16 hours ago, asubrt said:

1x weekly service to Santa Fe, NM beginning March 9. 

 

10 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

You made my evening with the SAF news!

Flight time is up. It is on Saturdays. Priced initially for $477 RT (ABQ about $320)

IAH-SAF 1155-1334

SAF-IAH 1409-1725

Operated by ERJ-145

Will be interesting to see if people give it a shot. 

[JBTX]

17 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

You’d def be on a very (relatively) short list of people in the entire history of the world who have visited Suriname!

Paging Noel Philips.

[Houston19514]

Rendering of United’s plans for Terminal B at George  Bush Intercontinental.

 

[hindesky]

United Airlines is planning a $2.6 billion renovation and expansion of Terminal B at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, but the city controller continues to decline to sign off on funding for the terminal overhaul.

https://www.axios.com/local/houston/2023/12/01/united-airlines-terminal-renovation-plan

PGAL Rendering.

[hindesky]

https://www.pgal.com

https://www.pgal.com/projects/united-airlines-terminal-b-transformation-program-at-george-bush-intercontinental-airport

"PGAL, with partners Manhattan Construction, will design and build the new state-of-the-art Terminal B North passenger concourse. Designed to enhance and elevate the traveler experience, Terminal B North will include 765,000 square feet over three levels and feature 22 narrow-body gates and what is set to be the largest United Club in the United system. Highlights also include a sensory room, interactive multi-media park, and comfort spaces for passengers with disabilities. 

The project’s two piers will be connected by a central concessions hub, delivering over 115,000 square feet of dynamic shopping and dining options. 

Features Include:

22 new gates

Two piers connected by a large concessions hub

United branded interactive multi-media park"

[hindesky]

Architect - https://www.pgal.com

https://www.pgal.com/projects/united-airlines-terminal-b-transformation-program-at-george-bush-intercontinental-airport

[Houston19514]

KHOU report on Terminal B Transformation

[strickn]

On 12/4/2023 at 9:39 AM, hindesky said:

United Airlines is planning a $2.6 billion renovation and expansion of Terminal B at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, but the city controller continues to decline to sign off on funding for the terminal overhaul.

https://www.axios.com/local/houston/2023/12/01/united-airlines-terminal-renovation-plan

PGAL Rendering.

I assume that funky airframe is the new flivver to Meow Wolf?

[Houston19514]

1 hour ago, strickn said:

I assume that funky airframe is the new flivver to Meow Wolf?

🤣   Actually, I think it's one of the electric air taxis.  Other renderings show landing spots for at least 4 on the roof of the addition to the Terminal B Central Processor

Edited December 18, 2023 by Houston19514

[Houston19514]

Another Terminal B Transformation rendering:

Edited December 18, 2023 by Houston19514

[Houston19514]

International Traffic Report:

OCTOBER 2023:

Houston:

• Bush Intercontinental: 920,833 (up 18.3% from 2022)
• Hobby International:  61,440 (down 2.2% from 2022)
• Houston Total:  982,273
• DFW:                 921,351  (up 8.3% from 2022)
• San Antonio:         53,159  (up 32.3% from 2022)

2023 YTD through October:

•    Bush Intercontinental:  9,627,297 (up 23.3% from 2022)
•    Hobby International:        826,186 (up 8.0% from 2022)
•    Houston Total:                  10,453,483
•    DFW:                                 9,245,649  (up 14.9% from 2022)
•   San Antonio:                       497,430  (up 8.7% from 2022)

[Houston19514]

Recent YouTube video of Bush Airport construction:

 

[Houston19514]

On January 9, terminal B north officially closed along with the post-security connector between C and B.

 The last if the banjos will be demolished soon.

[Houston19514]

International Traffic Report:

NOVEMBER 2023:

Houston:

• Bush Intercontinental: 913,808 (up 13.4% from 2022)
• Hobby International:  71,010 (down 3.2% from 2022)
• Houston Total:  984,818
• DFW:                 910,223  (up 11% from 2022)
• San Antonio:    55,701  (up 26.2% from 2022)

2023 YTD through November:

•    Bush Intercontinental:  10,541,105 (up 22.4% from 2022)
•    Hobby International:        897,196 (up 7.0% from 2022)
•    Houston Total:                  11,438,301 (up 21% from 2022)
•    DFW:                                 10,137,803  (up 14.3% from 2022)
•   San Antonio:                       553,131  (up 10.3% from 2022)

[mattyt36]

Worth noting:

(1) DFW international traffic is more seasonal, with multiple seasonal European routes.  Therefore, it should be expected that IAH's numbers look "better" relative to DFW in other months.

(2) International traffic growth at both airports has been strong, but looking forward DFW is still growing faster than IAH.  Percent change in international scheduled seats versus the same month in 2023:

Month: DFW/IAH

Jan: 15.9%/15.2%

Feb: 20.7%/18.0%

Mar: 17.7%/11.6%

Apr: 16.1%/11.8%

May: 14.8%/12.4%

Jun: 9.3%/6.7%

New international routes for DFW served in 2024 not served pre-COVID:

AKL (long haul), BCN (long haul), HEL (long haul), HND (long haul), IST, LTO, MEL (long haul), MID, TQO, XPL, ZLO

New routes for IAH in 2024:

GEO, HND (long haul), NLU, TQO, XPL

New airlines for DFW: Finnair, Iberia, Turkish

New airlines for IAH: Volaris El Salvador

I believe both DFW and IAH are in India now (or were earlier in the week) on a trade mission with the governor and other state officials.  (Guess the border crisis can't be that bad!)  Air India has announced intentions to begin service to DFW.

Who would you rather be?  Context remains key.

[JBTX]

Seeing those new routes makes me want HKG back. An IAH-SGN would really tickle my fancy. Unfortunately, that's out of range for Vietnam Air's 787 fleet and teeters on the bring of the 350-900's range.

Edited January 26 by JBTX

[Houston19514]

On 1/26/2024 at 2:33 PM, mattyt36 said:

Worth noting:

(1) DFW international traffic is more seasonal, with multiple seasonal European routes.  Therefore, it should be expected that IAH's numbers look "better" relative to DFW in other months.

(2) International traffic growth at both airports has been strong, but looking forward DFW is still growing faster than IAH.  Percent change in international scheduled seats versus the same month in 2023:

Month: DFW/IAH

Jan: 15.9%/15.2%

Feb: 20.7%/18.0%

Mar: 17.7%/11.6%

Apr: 16.1%/11.8%

May: 14.8%/12.4%

Jun: 9.3%/6.7%

New international routes for DFW served in 2024 not served pre-COVID:

AKL (long haul), BCN (long haul), HEL (long haul), HND (long haul), IST, LTO, MEL (long haul), MID, TQO, XPL, ZLO

New routes for IAH in 2024:

GEO, HND (long haul), NLU, TQO, XPL

New airlines for DFW: Finnair, Iberia, Turkish

New airlines for IAH: Volaris El Salvador

I believe both DFW and IAH are in India now (or were earlier in the week) on a trade mission with the governor and other state officials.  (Guess the border crisis can't be that bad!)  Air India has announced intentions to begin service to DFW.

Who would you rather be?  Context remains key.

I wish we'd get the love from United that DFW gets from American.  But I'd rather have Bush IAH's international traffic growth of 22.4% for 2023 than DFW's 14.3% growth.   (By the way, I think Finnair and Iberia have both been at DFW since 2022; good for them that they finally joined Houston in having service from Turkish.)

[Houston19514]

On 1/26/2024 at 2:33 PM, mattyt36 said:

Worth noting:

(1) DFW international traffic is more seasonal, with multiple seasonal European routes.  Therefore, it should be expected that IAH's numbers look "better" relative to DFW in other months.

(2) International traffic growth at both airports has been strong, but looking forward DFW is still growing faster than IAH.  Percent change in international scheduled seats versus the same month in 2023:

Month: DFW/IAH

Jan: 15.9%/15.2%

Feb: 20.7%/18.0%

Mar: 17.7%/11.6%

Apr: 16.1%/11.8%

May: 14.8%/12.4%

Jun: 9.3%/6.7%

New international routes for DFW served in 2024 not served pre-COVID:

AKL (long haul), BCN (long haul), HEL (long haul), HND (long haul), IST, LTO, MEL (long haul), MID, TQO, XPL, ZLO

New routes for IAH in 2024:

GEO, HND (long haul), NLU, TQO, XPL

New airlines for DFW: Finnair, Iberia, Turkish

New airlines for IAH: Volaris El Salvador

I believe both DFW and IAH are in India now (or were earlier in the week) on a trade mission with the governor and other state officials.  (Guess the border crisis can't be that bad!)  Air India has announced intentions to begin service to DFW.

Who would you rather be?  Context remains key.

Also, Turkish started their DFW service in 2021.   There doesn't seem to be anyone from  DFW Airport on the India economic development mission. And I don't know of any announcement of DFW service by Air India. (DFW being DFW, there is zero chance that an announcement was made without it showing up on DFW's website and in the Dallas Morning News; searches of each turn up nothing.)

(Just realized I slightly misstated the growth numbers in my prior post, and I missed the edit window. Those growth rates were for the calendar year 2023 through November, not the full year. I'll post the full year as soon as DFW posts their numbers.)

Edited January 29 by Houston19514

[Houston19514]

New HAS video of International Terminal construction:

https://www.facebook.com/BushAirport/videos/755935449792391

[mattyt36]

On 1/29/2024 at 9:03 AM, Houston19514 said:

I wish we'd get the love from United that DFW gets from American.  But I'd rather have Bush IAH's international traffic growth of 22.4% for 2023 than DFW's 14.3% growth.   (By the way, I think Finnair and Iberia have both been at DFW since 2022; good for them that they finally joined Houston in having service from Turkish.)

"I'd rather have more growth in the past than future growth"--this seems to be a recurring theme.

Not sure why I'd be glib about Turkish serving DFW after IAH.  It's not like IAH has gotten an airline that has served DFW.  I don't think it says the thing you think it says, especially considering IAH is a Star Alliance hub.  When Iberia comes to IAH, then maybe I'd say you have a point.

The routes and airlines listed were added since COVID (i.e., 2019).  The long-term is the story.  Not a year or a month at a time.

On 1/29/2024 at 9:42 AM, Houston19514 said:

And I don't know of any announcement of DFW service by Air India.

"Announced intentions."

Air India Plans Dallas, Los Angeles, And Seattle Flights - One Mile at a Time

[Houston19514]

36 minutes ago, mattyt36 said:

"I'd rather have more growth in the past than future growth"--this seems to be a recurring theme.

"Announced intentions."

Air India Plans Dallas, Los Angeles, And Seattle Flights - One Mile at a Time

I'd rather have actual growth than imagined or projected growth.  If and when the future faster growth at DFW materializes and they overtake Houston in international traffic, I'll post it. But at this time, the record shows (contrary to some earlier predictions posted on this very forum) that Bush Intercontinental has more international traffic than DFW and is growing faster.

"Announce intentions."  I read that article earlier this month too.  Mostly just reporting on various message board rumors. There has been no "announcement" of service to DFW by Air India. (And LAX, SEA, and DFW are not shown on Air India's route map.) https://www.airindia.com/in/en/destinations/route-map.html

Edited January 30 by Houston19514

[Houston19514]

Demolition of Terminal B North has begun (at last report, they had started with the demolition of jet bridges).

[mattyt36]

@Houston19514, the seats are loaded into computer reservation systems and are for sale as we speak.  Trust me, you won't have to wait long.  

And, if you're in the market for "actual growth" and not "imagined or projected growth," consider the following:

Percent change in international enplanements (one-way, not two-way) per U.S. DoT (these exclude nonrevenue passengers so are lower than the numbers reported by the airports)

IAH/DFW (in millions)

2019: 5.4 / 4.6

2020: 1.7 / 1.6

2021: 3.2 / 2.9

2022: 4.6 / 4.7

That means in 2022, DFW was 2.2% ahead of where it was pre-COVID while IAH was 14.8% behind.

If we assume the YTD percentages you posted above hold (+22.4% for IAH and +14.3% for DFW), that would make for 2023:

2023: 5.6 / 5.4 

So, yes, IAH will emerge CY 2023 as marginally busier than DFW, which seems to be your biggest yardstick.  However, from a long-term perspective, it means IAH will be 3.7% higher than where it was pre-COVID, while DFW will be a whopping 17.4% higher.  That is "actual growth."  I ask you again, who would you rather be?  IAH grew faster in 2023 than DFW is because it had a lot of ground to make up.  And it's increasingly clear to me the competitive landscape has likely changed permanently.  This longer-term trend is THE trend.  DFW continues to get more long-haul service this summer while IAH gets none.  AUS getting European service certainly hasn't helped, either.

As for the route map, well, that shouldn't take much mental effort to understand.  If you could go back in a time machine on January 10, you would see what they were seeing.  There were schedules leaked by reputable sources, as happens with these things quite often (e.g., the same group of people who knew about Ethiopian coming here before the world did).  Maybe it will pan out, maybe it won't.  The point is DFW is likely in AI's network plan for the near term and IAH isn't.  The fact is that Houston has not been in the mind of long-haul international network planners in the way it had been in the past since 2015, which admittedly makes perfect sense because Houston's economy has not performed comparatively well since then when compared to the prior decade.  One needs to follow the industry as a whole, instead of Houston's participation in the industry at a single point in time in order to notice the abundant evidence and ensure one's head is not in the proverbial sand.

I hope to be wrong, but the "actual growth" data, when presented in a manner that allows people to see the real long-term trends, tells otherwise. 

[Houston19514]

32 minutes ago, mattyt36 said:

As for the route map, well, that shouldn't take much mental effort to understand.  If you could go back in a time machine on January 10, you would see what they were seeing.  There were schedules leaked by reputable sources, as happens with these things quite often (e.g., the same group of people who knew about Ethiopian coming here before the world did).  Maybe it will pan out, maybe it won't.  The point is DFW is likely in AI's network plan for the near term and IAH isn't.

Actually, the point is you told us AI service to DFW had been announced.  That is false. Full stop. With or without context.  No announcement had been made when you reported this falsehood to us. No announcement has been made as of this moment. 

Edited January 30 by Houston19514

[mattyt36]

20 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

Actually, the point is you told us AI service to DFW had been announced.  That is false. Full stop. With or without context.  No announcement had been made when you reported this falsehood to us. No announcement has been made as of this moment. 

Yep, that's definitely the main takeaway in all of the above.

Thanks for reinforcing my point 👍

[asubrt]

On 1/26/2024 at 2:33 PM, mattyt36 said:

New international routes for DFW served in 2024 not served pre-COVID:

AKL (long haul), BCN (long haul), HEL (long haul), HND (long haul), IST, LTO, MEL (long haul), MID, TQO, XPL, ZLO

New routes for IAH in 2024:

GEO, HND (long haul), NLU, TQO, XPL

New airlines for DFW: Finnair, Iberia, Turkish

New airlines for IAH: Volaris El SalvadoR

Add another destination for DFW… looks like AA is starting Dallas-Brisbane this year 🫤