SYRACUSE -- Syracuse Airport Commissioner Rory McMahon says a recent survey naming the airports with the cheapest airfares is good news for Hancock International Airport.
CheapFlights.com surveyed 101 airports and compared average ticket prices. It found the average fare in Syracuse was $426, which placed Hancock at #33 for the lowest priced fares. Rochester's airport placed #14 with an average fare of $368.
McMahon says many people have the wrong impression that flights in and out of Syracuse are excessive. He pointed to a price comparison chart he compiled which found ticket prices to five major destinations were cheaper than airports in both Rochester and Albany.
The Commissioner admits that more needs to be done to attract more airlines and competition. He says one reason Rochester's airport did better in the survey than Syracuse is the fact that Rochester has one additional air carrier, AirTran. McMahon says because of AirTran, many people in Syracuse will travel to Rochester to pay hundreds less for a ticket to several destinations including Atlanta.
Never the less, if the average ticket is only $58 less out of Rochester's airport, McMahon says Syracuse based air passengers would not save that much by driving to Rochester for a flight.
McMahon says he is constantly in touch with airlines to locate service at Hancock International. He says one selling point is that Syracuse can draw from a population base of six million people throughout much of upstate New York as well as parts of Pennsylvania and Canada.
