Delta cuts fares at CVG up to 60%

Welcome news for frequent fliers:  Delta Airlines has cut fares on domestic flights to and from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).

And this is not a temporary sales ploy, assures Delta Chief Operating Officer, Steve Gorman.  This rate reduction marks the beginning of a new strategy for Delta.

Ranging from as much as a five to sixty percent mark down, the price cuts will apply to walk-up fares and pre-purchased business and leisure tickets for flights to cities in the Northeast, the West Coast, and Florida.  In total, eighty percent of passengers flying in or out of CVG will benefit from the cuts. Only round-trip tickets that require a minimum stay of three nights, or a Saturday night, will be sold at reduced rates.

Part of the credit for the rate reductions goes to the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, which played a significant role in encouraging Delta to lower their fares. “Relief is especially welcome right now as there are few costs of business that are actually going down,” says Douglas Moormann, Vice President of Economic Development for the Chamber. “This change could not have come at a better time.”

Results of a recent study commissioned by the Chamber, although not yet complete, indicate early numbers of up to 32 percent of local business travel is currently going to surrounding airports as a result of the higher fares. Delta is counting on their lower prices wooing back those prodigal travelers to make up for any revenue lost.

“The community now needs to take advantage of these fares,” says Moormann. “If they don’t, they won’t last.”

Indeed, airport officials are hopeful that reduced fares will attract more travelers to use CVG, instead of other nearby airports.

"We are very much committed to making the Cincinnati hub as successful as possible," Gorman says.

And it's not just travelers who benefit.

Combined with CVG's solid reputation – including a spot in the 2008 J.D. Power 10 Best Hub Airports in North America – Mayor Mallory adds that this development "will be an additional selling point when we talk to businesses about investing in Cincinnati."

Examples of reduced airfares:

Writer:  Jonathan DeHart
Source:  Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport