Airport Experience® News - Leadership & Culture Issue 2023

DIRECTOR’S CHAIR

WARD: What are you doing on the air service development front? What routes are most needed from RIC? MILLER: Richmond came out of the pandemic with more destinations than it had going into the pandemic. We have a very, very active air service development program. We were recently awarded a Small Community Air Service Development Program grant. It’s $1 million from the USDOT specifically for developing service to and from Seattle. We’ve been working diligently to enhance our number of destinations by at least one more in short order. We work very closely with business community to improve our air service options from this region. We partner with airlines for new destinations and cooperatively promote new routes. We work with our travel and tourism, the regional economic development groups

also. We have several destinations that we would like to see in addition to the Seattle route. We like to re-establish the U.S. - Canada transborder service we had some years ago, and there are numerous Caribbean spots that we’ve shortlisted for international operations, as well as several domestic mid- continental routes with potential. And in the not-so-distant future, we’re interested in developing nonstop service to major European hubs. Our [Federal Inspection Services (FIS)] facility will be completed in the first quarter of 2024. Once that’s done we will be capable of accommodating scheduled flights that need U.S. Customs and Border Patrol clearance. WARD: With overall traffic growing and aspirations for more, what are your terminal facilities like? Are you looking at expansion or renovation to meet needs?

Above: Richmond International Airport is experiencing rapid growth, building on strong gains made in the late 2010s. With burgeoning demand, airport director Perry Miller is now setting sights on service to international markets.

MILLER: I already mentioned our growth prior to Covid. Now, starting in March 2023, we’ve had eight consecutive months of record-breaking passenger traffic. We’ve also experienced growth in cargo by 25% for our fiscal year. As as we head in 2024, I’d like us to see us continue on a growth trajectory and there are some things we need do to accommodate for that growth.

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AX NEWS LEADERSHIP ISSUE 2023