Silver Airways 2015 Service to Charleston International Airport

 Silver Airways 2015 Service to Charleston International Airport

July 11, 2021

By: Michael Gutta

 

On November 23, 2020, Silver Airways commenced flights from Charleston International Airport in South Carolina to three destinations in Florida: Orlando, Tampa, and Fort Lauderdale. This service is actually the second time Silver has served the Charleston market, having previously served the airport for a brief period in 2015. So, what is different this time, and will the service work now coming out of the global pandemic?

Two Silver Airways Saab 340b aircraft with registration N304AG and N344AG together on the tarmac at TPA on 12/12/2018 with the bald eagle SkyConnect passing by (Michael Gutta).

To begin, it helps to first look back at the previous service offered in 2015. At the time of announcement, Silver said they would offer once-daily flights to Tampa (TPA) and twice-daily flights to Orlando (MCO). However, from the data available both destinations were operated with once-a-day flights. The Silver service was operated from March 2015 and ended with a single round-trip from each destination in January 2016. In total, eighteen thousand passengers traveled to or from Charleston on more than one thousand flights. Unfortunately, with over thirty-five thousand seats available the load factor was a dismal 52% for both directions of travel.


Each destination was then examined by departure data from Charleston. Orlando (MCO) is a 275nm flight, with Tampa (TPA) slightly longer at 322nm. The current service offered to Fort Lauderdale is a 409nm flight by great circle distance. The 2015 service data is remarkably similar between MCO and TPA: 8700 one-way passengers to MCO with a load factor of 55% and 9000 one-way passengers to TPA with a load factor of 53%. Even monthly trends are similar with August and November the only months showing a significant difference in travel numbers.


Perhaps the most significant part of the 2015 service was not the destinations or frequency of flights offered from Charleston, but the aircraft type. Silver Airways in 2015 had a fleet made up exclusively of Saab 340 aircraft. From Silver’s own website, this aircraft type was last manufactured in 1998 which led to unscheduled maintenance delays and cancellations. The Saab 340’s sat 34 passengers with 30 inches of seat pitch. The Saab 340 had its first flight in 1983, and the type is powered by two GE CT7 turboprop engines that were originally designed in the late 1960’s. The Saab 340 has a listed cruise speed of 290mph (250 knots) and would burn roughly 1100 pounds per hour of fuel for a 300nm flight.

Flashforward to today, with re-launched service between Charleston and Florida, and additional service to two other South Carolina destinations. Silver Airways is in the middle of a fleet renewal and has introduced the more modern ATR 42 and ATR 72 on these routes. Silver claims the ATR aircraft have a cruise speed of 345mph (300 knots) and are built out of 20% composite materials. The smaller version has 12 more seats per aircraft, 3 more inches of legroom per seat, and a cabin height of 6’ 3” in the aisle. The seating is a 2-2 configuration instead of 2-1, and the Silver Airways fleet average age for the ATR is less than 3 years old. Both the ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 burn more fuel for the same route as the Saab 340, but are capable of carrying many more passengers to offset the higher fuel burn. In summary, the ATR’s are faster, newer, more comfortable, and more fuel efficient, but have a higher trip cost due to being a heavier and larger aircraft.

Silver Airways now offers service to several domestic destinations outside of Florida, with 3 cities in South Carolina alone. Silver seems to have found success with Huntsville, Alabama and also has recently launched to Savannah, Georgia and New Orleans, Louisiana. With all the other route developments out of Charleston since 2015 and the improved product Silver Airways now offers relative to 2015, these 3 routes certainly stand a chance.

Let me know your thoughts on this blog post and potential future topics involving Silver Airways, Charleston International Airport, or anything aviation related. Data compiled for the report and figures above came from the USDOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics T100 Tables. A few other links to news stories are also shown below:

CHS in 2015: https://charlestonbusiness.com/news/agriculture/50721/

CHS in 2020: https://charlestonbusiness.com/news/aerospace/78040/#:~:text=The%20airline%20previously%20offered%20flights%20out%20of%20Charleston,and%20flights%20to%20Tampa%20three%20times%20a%20week.

Press Release: https://www.silverairways.com/about-silver/press-room/article/2020/10/13/silver-airways-to-launch-service-from-charleston-international

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