Ford Airport airfares continue to drop

CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - The average airfare to fly out of the Gerald R. Ford International Airport dropped $9.50 in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the previous three months, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Average domestic round-trip airfares at the Cascade Township airport dropped 2.3% from $407.34 in the second quarter of 2011 to $397.84 in the third quarter. Meanwhile, airfares at Detroit Metropolitan Airport fell only 1.6% during the same period.

"The unified effort of the private and public sectors to address airfares and air service at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport continues to pay dividends for our region," Dan Wiersma, executive director of the Regional Air Alliance of West Michigan, said in a news release. "Coupled with the recent announcement that Southwest Airlines will serve our region, this data is more proof of our progress to ensure West Michigan receives 'best in class' commercial air service."

The Regional Air Alliance of West Michigan, chaired by Dick DeVos, is aggressively pursuing a multi-faceted strategy to improve air service to West Michigan -- a region that spans from Kalamazoo to Traverse City, and the lakeshore to Lansing. In the second quarter of 2009, Ford Airport was the second most expensive of the nation's largest 100 airports, the news release stated. By the third quarter of 2011, that ranking had improved to No. 25.

The alliance was integral to attracting low-cost carrier AirTran to the Ford Airport in 2010, and alliance officials worked to convince Southwest Airlines to continue to fly from the airport after it acquired AirTran last May. Southwest announced Jan. 20 that Grand Rapids was among the AirTran markets it will continue to serve.

It costs only $18.75 more to fly from Ford Airport during the third quarter than the average airfare at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, and only $26.88 more than the average airfare at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. In the second quarter of 2009, it cost $95.47 less to fly from Detroit and $86 less to fly from O'Hare.

"Although there is more work to be done, Grand Rapids business and leisure travelers are better connected to the world thanks to this regional effort," Wiersma added. "The airfare savings that once motivated many local travelers to drive to Chicago or Detroit to fly has largely been neutralized. Ford International Airport is the best overall value for most travelers into and out of West Michigan."

Launched in 2008, the Regional Air Alliance of West Michigan is a nonprofit organization with a mission to bring "best in class" commercial air travel to the region. Alliance members believe that quality air travel is vital to the region's long-term economic growth and overall quality of life in West Michigan.