Relief For Passengers Gouged At CVG?
Delta has some welcome news for passengers flying out of
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Covington, KY
(CVG)... the airline has sharply reduced fares on many routes
originating there.
For some time, CVG has had a rather unwelcome reputation... as
one of the most expensive US airports to fly from, based on average
air fares. In fact, according to the most recent Department of
Transportation statistics, CVG was the priciest US airport for
airfares through Q3 of last year.
It's not really hard to see why that's the case. CVG isn't a
particularly large airport, and it serves a medium-size city... but
the airport is also a significant "hub" for Delta Air Lines, which
maintains a near-monopoly on traffic there. For years, Delta has
been accused of jacking up air fares at CVG because... well, it
could.
Delta's presence at CVG has only grown with the airline's recent
acquisition of Northwest... but the airline has also cut domestic
capacity throughout its network, hitting CVG particularly hard. The
combination of fewer travel choices and still-higher fares has left
many customers rather disgruntled, to the point of driving more
than 100 miles from CVG to alternate, and cheaper, airports.
Hoping to ease the sting, Delta announced Friday it has lowered
business and leisure fares in domestic markets served out of CVG,
which the carrier says should reduce fare for over 80 percent of
customers flying to or from Cincinnati on advance-purchase
airfares.
"Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky is the airport of choice for
customers across the Tri-State Region and these new fares make it
compelling for customers to choose the convenience of flying
nonstop to more than 90 worldwide destinations from Delta’s
Cincinnati hub rather than wasting time and money driving to
neighboring airports," said Glen Hauenstein, Delta’s
executive vice president – Network Planning and Revenue
Management.
Among the more notable price cuts is
a 56 percent drop in one-way airfare to Charleston, SC, at $82; and
a 58 percent drop in one-way fares from CVG to Los Angeles
International.
Delta stressed the new pricing is "not a sale," and applies to
both leisure and business travel. "In addition to reductions on the
lowest available fares, customers also will see reductions on other
advance purchase and walk-up fares," the carrier added.
Despite recent cuts, Delta notes the CVG hub offers customers
more than 270 peak-day departures to more than 90 nonstop
destinations, including flights to three trans-Atlantic
destinations -- London-Gatwick, Paris and Frankfurt.