While it generally does cost a little — sometimes a lot — more to fly out of Moore County, travel agents say low fares can be found. Air fares depend on many factors — when you fly, how long you stay, how far in advance you book your tickets and your destination.
It has gotten more difficult in the past few years to find cheaper flights out of Moore County.
CCAir, flying under contract as US Airways Express, has been providing daily roundtrip flights from Moore County to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport since 1993. The Charlotte-based carrier has announced that it will eliminate the service April 15, citing declining passenger loads and the poor economy.
Local business and tourism leaders are courting Piedmont Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of US Airways, to serve Moore County. Piedmont also flies under the name US Airways Express .
The local group is also developing a plan to promote Moore County as a regional airport that could serve Hoke, Montgomery, Richmond, Lee and Scotland counties. That would greatly increase the number of potential customers and lead to improved air service, primarily larger planes.
Part of the reason it has become more expensive to fly out of Moore County, according to some travel agents, is that CCAir switched from 37-seat planes to 19-seat planes in 1999. Airlines sell only a set number of low-fare seats on their flights. Fewer seats mean there are fewer low fares available.
“I think that has been the biggest problem,” said Anne Shearer, manager of AAA Vacations in Southern Pines. “But when you are looking at $100 to $150 less to fly out of RDU, it is probably worth it to drive to Raleigh. You can’t really rationalize flying out of here.”
Shearer points that fares generally tend to be lower out of Raleigh-Durham International than Charlotte Douglas International because there is more competition at RDU, such as discount-carrier Southwest Airlines.
“Where you don’t have competition, the fares are going to be higher,” Shearer said.
As an example, Shearer said a roundtrip flight from Southern Pines, through Charlotte to New York LaGuardia Airport on March 20, booked two weeks in advance, cost about $217. A direct flight from Raleigh to New York on US Airways is about $118.
“I had to search for those (lower-fare) seats, Shearer said.
Once all of the lower-fare seats are sold on the flight from Southern Pines to New York, the price for that same flight jumps to $233. The next booking class is $536.
Shearer recommends booking a minimum of 14 days in advance.
“As long as you book in advance and can be flexible on the dates, you can get a lower fare,” she said.
CCAir switched to the smaller planes in 1999. Even with the U.S. Open Golf Championship being played in Pinehurst that year, boardings dropped by more than 11,000 passengers. Boardings peaked in 1998 at 50,690. They plummeted to 24,017 last year.
Even though it can be a little more expensive to fly out of Moore County, there are benefits to using the local airport, said Gayle Bantz, manager of Summey Travel on Midland Road.
“A lot of people, especially senior citizens, don’t like driving to Raleigh,” Bantz said. “When you add up the cost of driving to Raleigh and paying for parking, or paying for a shuttle service to take you to Raleigh, you may be better off flying out of Moore County.
“We are still able to get a lot of lower fares on flights out of Moore County. True, it is more difficult now.”
Bantz and Shearer say most of their customers prefer flying out of Moore County.
“We have an excellent airport here,” Bantz said. “It is a great facility.”
Both are hopeful that a deal can be worked out with Piedmont Airlines. They said the timing of CCAir’s decision to eliminate service here couldn’t be worse because it is at the height of the busy spring tourism season.
The earliest date when new service could be started would be June 15, because of the way airlines schedule flights.
“That is going to be hard on the area economically,” Bantz said.
Michael Shouse, executive director of the Moore County Airport Authority, said discussions with Piedmont Airlines are “progressing nicely.” There has been no indication when the Salisbury, Md., airline will make a decision.
Caleb Miles, president and chief executive officer of the county’s Convention & Visitors Bureau, is among the group working to recruit Piedmont. Miles said there is strong demand for air service for people who live and work in Moore County, in addition to tourists would come by air.
Miles is among those who see an opportunity to increase the number of people flying out of Moore County by promoting it as a regional airport. There are no commercial airports in the six surrounding counties.
According to figures compiled by the Convention & Visitors Bureau, the population of the six-county region, which was 267,915 in July 2000, grew by 19 percent between 1990 and 2000. The population is expected to continue growing at a healthy pace in the next 10 years, Miles said.
Retail sales for the six counties were more than $2.7 billion in 2000-2001. According to another statistic from the bureau, the effective buying income of the region in 2001 was $3.9 billion.
“We have got to market more effectively to get people flying out of Moore County,” Miles said. “That is our goal. We think there is a lot of potential.”
