HARLINGEN, Texas - Valley International Airport officials are looking forward to having the longest runway by far south of San Antonio.
A project to extend the main runway by an extra 15 percent should be completed by the Spring of 2024.
“By that point we will have the longest runway south of San Antonio and that comes with two extra gifts,” said Nicolás J. Mirman, commercial director for VIA.
“Firstly, we will have the highest quality, most precision-based landing aides on both sides of the runway. What does that mean? It means that when there is bad weather here, it will have to be very real bad for planes not to be able to land here.
“The other huge benefit is that it's going to allow cargo planes to land here fully loaded.”
Mirman gave an exclusive interview to the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service just before the Thanksgiving holidays. During the interview he spoke about Sun Country flights from Harlingen to Cancun, Mexico. And he spoke about VIA offering the lowest air fares on average in the Rio Grande Valley.
With regard to the improved landing aids that will come with an expanded runway, Mirman said even San Antonio does not offer this. The nearest airport with these precision aids is Austin, he said.
“So, reliability of flights leaving out to Harlingen will be way, way higher than the other regional airports. That also means that flights going to those other regional airports won't have to divert back (during bad weather) to Dallas, Houston or wherever they're coming from. They will be able to land here.”
Mirman said: “It is up to each airline, but chances are that airlines with stations in other airports in the region with use Harlingen as an alternative instead of sending the flight back to Dallas (due to bad weather) and when that happens, that will be a huge improvement for people.”
As for cargo flights, Mirman said that currently, cargo planes cannot fly fully loaded.
“The extension of the new runway is such that it will guarantee all the FedEx wide bodied airplanes can land fully loaded here. We will become the de facto center of cargo transportation in the Rio Grande Valley. We're super excited about that too.”
In other VIA news, Mirman said he was thrilled to learn that Minneapolis-based Sun County Airlines is going to continue flying from Harlingen to Cancun, for the third successive year.
“They're going to repeat the same program this coming summer starting in the last week of May all the way through the summer, flying twice a week to Cancun from Harlingen,” Mirman said.
“That means that we have done our job by filling up those seats and by filling them up with a good fare. We are super excited about that. If it is successful this coming year it is going to give us more ammunition, if you will, to keep working on more destinations from the Rio Grande Valley to different places in Mexico, different destinations for the people of the Rio Grande Valley.”
Mirman said Sun Country is a low-cost carrier, just like Southwest Airlines. Having two low-cost carriers at VIA ensures that American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have to stay competitive with their air fares.
“The great thing about having Southwest in Harlingen is that their connections from Dallas, Houston and Austin are also low-cost,” Mirman said.
“Because of that, we're able to offer low-cost pricing to more than 100 destinations out of Harlingen because Southwest is the only low cost carrier that offers low cost on the local non stop and the connections too.
“So, all in all, Valley International is 30 percent cheaper on the average fare. Our average fare is 30 percent cheaper than McAllen for the average fare based on Department of Transportation statistics. And, we are practically 40 percent cheaper than Brownsville.”
Mirman was quick to add that this does not mean VIA is going to be cheaper every time.
“But, I can guarantee you that based on Department of Transportation numbers by year and based in the second quarter numbers for 2023, we are 30 percent cheaper than McAllen and 40 percent cheaper than Brownsville. So, chances are that if you want to travel and you want to travel cheap, more economically, you will find better fares out of Harlingen than the other two airports.”
Mirman added: “For many years, we have been the most economical option when it comes to flying out of the Rio Grande Valley. And this continues to be the case in the latest release of the Department of Transportation Statistics going all the way to the second quarter, 2023.”
Editor's Note: Here is a video recording of the Guardian’s interview with Mirman:
https://youtu.be/fUmLJyvC8WA
