Lincoln Airport (LNK) Struggling To Attract Passengers

teachercd said:
Remember when they wanted to make a party lake in Ashland...That would have rocked
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VectorVictor said:
Right, but reading those updates, it doesn't address the blight and lack of development going on outside of the Airport. Having a mid-Lincoln/Omaha airport own all of that land would help help address and prevent future blight. 

And yes, Grand Island/Kearney have proven that people don't always want to go to Omaha to fly out of the state, and Lincoln's airport has been rubbish for some time. While they've cut a few flights back from the GI/Kearney airport, they've expanded significantly over the past decade or so. I've even thought about flying in through there a few times--the cost unfortunately drives me to Omaha. 
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Look I’m all in on an Ashland based airport. But it isn’t happening.

First step for Lincoln is updating the airport to be able to facilitate longer routes and amenities post security that allow people to eat/drink/relax before a flight. That’s underway.

Next is some sort of public transportation to/from the airport. Need to be able to hop on a shuttle from downtown/haymarket/burbs and be dropped at the airport. Ideally the rumored rail from LNK to OMA would include a stop at LNK airport and people could ride it to/from the airport. 

Development around the airport is fine but.. most all airports are “out there” if you will. There’s limited commercial and residential interest in major social development around airports. Could you potentially add an office park and some warehousing? Probably. Could you replicate the Haymarket? That seems like a longer shot.

For now- LNK management needs to control what it can control. Update the facilities, update the gates, add better routes and figure out transportation options. Then worry about the rest.

 
seaofred92 said:
Look I’m all in on an Ashland based airport. But it isn’t happening.

First step for Lincoln is updating the airport to be able to facilitate longer routes and amenities post security that allow people to eat/drink/relax before a flight. That’s underway.

Next is some sort of public transportation to/from the airport. Need to be able to hop on a shuttle from downtown/haymarket/burbs and be dropped at the airport. Ideally the rumored rail from LNK to OMA would include a stop at LNK airport and people could ride it to/from the airport. 

Development around the airport is fine but.. most all airports are “out there” if you will. There’s limited commercial and residential interest in major social development around airports. Could you potentially add an office park and some warehousing? Probably. Could you replicate the Haymarket? That seems like a longer shot.

For now- LNK management needs to control what it can control. Update the facilities, update the gates, add better routes and figure out transportation options. Then worry about the rest.
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I would love to fly into Lincoln, but it’s a three stop trip and never below $800. 
 

personally I could care less about gates, restaurants, etc as my time is limited there and it’s all about the $. And safety of course. 

 
I am about to make my third trip to Omaha to shuttle family back to the airport. It's a bit of a drag and I wish they would be able to fly out of Lincoln. 

 
krc1995 said:
And safety of course. 
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Back in the day (I am thinking early 2000s, almost positive this was post 9/11) Northwest had flights to/from MSP where you would walk out a back door on the lower level in LNK (not go through security at all), walk across the tarmac, and then get on the plane.  Then after you landed at MSP you would go through security as you were entering the terminal.  I guess the government made a risk assessment that terrorists are not interested in small commuter planes.

I think this was only for the prop planes.  The Northwest jets would board from the upper level and you would have to go through security for them.

 
Red Five said:
Back in the day (I am thinking early 2000s, almost positive this was post 9/11) Northwest had flights to/from MSP where you would walk out a back door on the lower level in LNK (not go through security at all), walk across the tarmac, and then get on the plane.  Then after you landed at MSP you would go through security as you were entering the terminal.  I guess the government made a risk assessment that terrorists are not interested in small commuter planes.

I think this was only for the prop planes.  The Northwest jets would board from the upper level and you would have to go through security for them.
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Houston still does this. We did it for our Houston-Oklahoma City leg in September. And often for the Houston-Lafayette, la leg. 
 

 
Never is a strong word, but I don't see any new airport between Omaha and Lincoln happening in my lifetime. Omaha has already driven about $100 million into the airport and is currently doing a lot more work. Plans to rework the terminal were chugging along, but did hit the breaks during covid. They plan to connect the terminals and have a single centralized security checkpoint. The idea is getting everyone in the same terminal can justify some better amenities beyond security.

Also while it would benefit Lincoln and some suburban users to go out by Gretna or Ashland, Omaha's airport location is really good for their marketing pitch for things like conventions and NCAA events on top of helping attract business in the city's core. Obviously things can change, but I don't see Omaha being terribly interested ditching a really strong amenity for the city anytime soon.

 
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