Mobile Regional Airport

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Mobile Regional Airport

IATA: MOB - ICAO: KMOB
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Mobile Airport Authority
Serves		Mobile, Alabama
Elevation AMSL		219 ft (66.8 m)
Coordinates		30°41′28″N, 88°14′34″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
14/32	8,521	2,597	Asphalt
18/36	4,365	1,330	Asphalt
Helipads
Number	Size		Surface
Number	ft	m	Surface
H1	100	30	Asphalt

Mobile Regional Airport (IATA: MOB, ICAO: KMOB) is an airport located 11 miles (18 km) west of the central business district (CBD) of Mobile, a city in Mobile County, Alabama, near Pascagoula, Mississippi.

The airport is served by five airlines providing non-stop service to six cities in the Southeastern United States. There are 23 daily departures. While the airport is the metropolitan area's only airport with scheduled airline service, MOB faces stiff competition from nearby Pensacola Regional Airport and Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport -- both only about a one-hour drive from Mobile on I-10. A total of 638,953 people used the airport in 2005.

1 Airfares
2 Airlines
3 Issues
4 Facilities
5 Terminal
6 Gates
7 Airlines and destinations
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Airfares

The airport has a reputation for high domestic fares, and they are usually attributed to the lack of a true low-cost carrier (LCC) serving the airport, such as JetBlue or Southwest. LCC AirTran served the airport for a time, but Delta and other airlines matched fares on the routes served by AirTran and passengers continued to fly the traditional network carriers. Ultimately, AirTran moved out and fares increased once again. AirTran later entered the Pensacola market, and fares dropped significantly from Pensacola Regional Airport. Because of this, many people drive about an hour in either direction to Pensacola, Florida or Gulfport, Mississippi. However, fares from Pensacola are lower primarily on routes served by AirTran. On other routes, including international services, Mobile and Pensacola offer similar fares. In order to attract and maintain frequent flyers, Mobile Regional Airport was the first to offer an Airport Frequent Flyer Program, called Passport. Passport was launched with a media blitz and new slogan: "Fly Smarter, Fly Mobile."

[edit] Airlines

The major carrier out of Mobile is Delta, based on the number of daily flights serving the airport. Delta, which recently filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, dropped several flights in 2006 and was temporarily supplanted by Continental, which added flights from Mobile. As of September 2006, Delta offered six weekday flights to Atlanta and added one to its Cincinnati hub beginning September 6th. Continental offered six weekday flights to Houston. Ten additional weekday departures were offered to Charlotte, Memphis, and Dallas/Fort Worth. Schedules were slightly reduced on the weekends.

United Airlines previously served MOB from its hubs in Chicago and Washington, DC, but service was cancelled and the airline withdrew from Mobile in September 2001 -- just a few weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11th.

The three major airline alliances -- SkyTeam, Star Alliance, and Oneworld -- are all represented at MOB. All three U.S. members of SkyTeam fly from Mobile and represent nearly 74% of the airport's scheduled services.

[edit] Issues

The Mobile Airport Authority encourages passengers to use multiple airlines to stimulate more competition and lower fares, and it continues to work to attract a low-cost carrier. The Authority also believes that both Mobile and Pensacola would be better served if a single airport was built to serve both cities in Baldwin County, Alabama -- midway between both cities. However, the Authority claims that Pensacola officials do not want their airport in Alabama and have withdrawn from exploratory discussions [1].

[edit] Facilities

Mobile Regional Airport covers 1,717 acres and has two runways and one helipad:

Runway 14/32: 8,521 x 150 ft. (2,597 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt
Runway 18/36: 4,376 x 150 ft. (1,334 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt
Helipad H1: 100 x 100 ft. (30 x 30 m), Surface: Asphalt

[edit] Terminal

The Terminal of the Mobile Regional Airport includes a small book/magazine shop, several eatieries, car rental shops, and a small arcade. It also includes handicap accessible elevators and bathrooms to the gates.