Tucson international airport, international no more

In another “sign of the times”, Tucson international airport is about to lose its last remaining scheduled international flight.

Aeromexico had been flying the Tucson – Hermosillo route since the 80’s, making the trip 4 times a week.

The irony of the situation is that the final international flight will depart the same day the new Tucson international terminal is scheduled to open.

What the loss of this sole international flight means for the airport is unknown, but it is just another episode leading to what the WSJ Journal calls “terminal illness”.

Many smaller airports around the country are losing flights, and some carriers are abandoning smaller regional airports completely.

When your airport relies on a handful of flight operations each day, the loss of just a couple of them could be catastrophic. Airports have pumped Billions into terminal renovations in recent years, and some airports have even resorted to paying departing passengers cash incentives to pick their location over more popular airports.

The combination of a poor economy, high fuel prices (for the airlines) and a general decline in air travel will probably mean we’ll see more airports close parts of their terminal buildings while they wait for things to pick up again, or for new carriers to give them a chance. What this means to us, is that those living in smaller towns may have to make an extra connection, or drive to a different airport. Either way, it’s all pretty depressing.

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