Iowa airports compete for travelers DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) =97 The competition for air travelers has prompted=20 airports in Cedar Rapids and the Quad Cities area to try to lure passengers= =20 away from the other's home turf. The two airports regularly advertise in=20 the other's area and in communities in between that are within driving=20 distance of both airports. Those cities include Iowa City, Clinton and=20 Muscatine, which don't have commercial air service at their airports. Ads=20 in those areas promote lower fares and new flights added to the two=20 competing airports' schedules. Such efforts may be paying off for the Quad= =20 City Airport in Moline, Ill. Boarding figures show that the airport is=20 catching up with the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids regarding the=20 number of passengers it serves. The difference narrowed from about 122,000= =20 more passengers at the Cedar Rapids airport in 2000 to just 63,000 more=20 last year. That gap could close further =97 to about 45,000 passengers this= =20 year =97 if boarding trends for the first quarter of 2003 hold up for the=20 rest of the year. In 2002, about 441,000 people boarded flights in Cedar=20 Rapids, while 378,000 flew out of Moline. "We've been aggressive," said=20 Bruce Carter, director of aviation at the Moline airport. Larry Mullendore, director of the Cedar Rapids airport called it a=20 "competitive situation." Part of the advantage at the Moline airport is an= =20 $18 million terminal expansion and upgrade and, even more important, the=20 arrival of low-fare carrier AirTran Airways of Orlando. Fla., Carter said.= =20 Mullendore, the Cedar Rapids airport official, said his airport should be=20 helped by the arrival last year of a commuter arm of American Trans Air,=20 also known as ATA, which is a low-fare airline based in Indianapolis. An=20 ATA commuter affiliate also serves Moline and Des Moines. The Cedar Rapids= =20 terminal received an $8 million renovation in 1996-98; another $1.4 million= =20 worth of work was done in 2001. A $450,000 upgrade of the restaurant, gift= =20 shop and lounge is planned for this year. Advertising has helped the Quad City airport grow, too. The airport's=20 annual ad budget is about $500,000. Cedar Rapids' ad budget is about=20 $150,000. The aggressive advertising can mean harder times for smaller=20 airports in cities like Dubuque. "It's definitely a tough economic time out= =20 there, and I think everybody is scrambling for passengers," said Andrew=20 Perry, airport manager in Dubuque. Officials of both the Cedar Rapids and=20 Moline airports say their advertising in markets such as Dubuque isn't a=20 matter of trying to steal passengers. Instead, they say, the ads emphasize= =20 fares or service, such as nonstop flights, that are not available in the=20 smaller markets. Perry does not blame the other airports, but says it does= =20 not make his job any easier. "The smaller markets have become a target of=20 the larger ones," Perry said. "But it's a sign of the times." *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.natalielaughlin.com/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************