Miami International Airport has been growing with more than 100 airlines and is the fastest growing airport in the United States, could MIA become a global gateway?

Global gateway for who? What do you actually mean by "global gateway". What markets do you want it to serve? Do current planes have the range to reach those markets profitably?

Uhh it already is (Except for East Asia)

It's not in the center of the globe so global in the true sense no, but it can be a major entry point into the USA for all countries in South and Central America, within the USA it is limited as more options exist which eliminate back-tracking to go to points north, east and west.

This question is absurd. Of course it's global. Miami is the financial and cultural bridge between much of Latin America and the Global North. It's a specialist role within the "global" economy, but that's true of every so-called global city. These connections don't materialize out of thin air...

With 787 and A350 becoming common its only a matter of time Asia comes to Miami, the question is who ? Tokyo would be the obvious first destination but JAL and AA are too conservative. Korean Air could but will they. AS far as the Chinnese airlines, China Eastern would be the most likely since their hub is in Shanghai on China's east coast. Having Cathay would be awesome but would the economics of a MIA to Hong Kong flight work ?

Other continents would help MIA too, Africa among them. Years ago SAA flew from Capetown to MIA and it would be great to see them return but that is unlikely since the airline is a mess and a Star alliance member. TAAG from Angola would be interesting since they are formerly Portuguese and Miami has so many Brazilians. Interesting days in Miami, when the first Asian airline does arrive the second and third will follow quickly.

- MIA's connection to Africa is limited
- It would be a hard sell to connect in MIA to Asia, other than perhapsfor traffic from South America, but such traffic can be routed via literally any other places on the earth due to the nature of them situated at the exact opposite of each other.

Miami goes as SA goes. When SA booms people and money flow down there through Miami. When it busts property values increase in South Florida.

It will take a lot to change this dynamic.

By the next 2 years we would probably have a route to Tokyo.

Miami is a superstar gateway to Latin America and does very well to Europe. Traffic flow to Asia is routed effectively over DFW, ORD or ATL. Miami's biggest passenger flows to Asia are to the Philippines and Indonesia, neither of which is renowned for high yield and is better served over another US hub where it can marry up with more profitable traffic.

We've been hearing for more than a decade that flights to Tokyo or Hong Kong are "imminent," but if dirt-cheap fuel and efficient planes like the 787/A350 haven't done it yet, I'm not holding my breath. South Florida's best hope is probably a vanity route from one of the Chinese carriers, for whom economics and financial performance are less important.

No offense meant, but if MIA isn't already a global gateway, I don't know what is. Just go through customs there once. It couldn't handle more than it does right now. I will not say insensitive things like a previous poster who said the question was "absurd", because it isn't.

And no US airport will become an international transit hub while every transit passenger has to clear Immigration and Customs just to catch a connecting flight, say LHR-MIA-LIM. Why bother?

ozark1 wrote:

No offense meant, but if MIA isn't already a global gateway, I don't know what is. Just go through customs there once. It couldn't handle more than it does right now. I will not say insensitive things like a previous poster who said the question was "absurd", because it isn't.

The OP is responsible for asking a non-obvious, meaningful and well-defined question. This thread shows a failure of that.

I do think by geography, MIA really should try to develop the African market, if there is money to be made that is.

I love Miami and MIA but if this is another "when is MIA going to get an asia flight" thread I'm out.

Africa should be a higher priority, but it doesn't come without questions. AA shows interest in JNB (but doesn't have the plane that can do it) and has previously shown interest in LOS (before the economic situation there became what it is). so where else is possible? DKR? ACC? NBO? none seem really likely as of now. MIA really only serves north america, europe, and south america. and that's alright!

Geminijets101 wrote:

Miami International Airport has been growing with more than 100 airlines and is the fastest growing airport in the United States, could MIA become a global gateway?

Growing ?

MIA was the only major US international airport that has seen traffic declines in international travel volumes.

See Table 8
https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/press_releases/bts017_17

LAXintl wrote:

Geminijets101 wrote:

Miami International Airport has been growing with more than 100 airlines and is the fastest growing airport in the United States, could MIA become a global gateway?

Growing ?

MIA was the only major US international airport that has seen traffic declines in international travel volumes.

See Table 8
https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/press_releases/bts017_17

At the end of the year they always make a new record. *shrugs*

Oh and you can blame a big part of it to the Brazilian market.

LAXintl wrote:

Geminijets101 wrote:

Miami International Airport has been growing with more than 100 airlines and is the fastest growing airport in the United States, could MIA become a global gateway?

Growing ?

MIA was the only major US international airport that has seen traffic declines in international travel volumes.

See Table 8
https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/press_releases/bts017_17

Yes, thanks to Brazil traffic falling off a cliff. What is more impressive that the decline wasn't bigger, but other markets made up for it. I think Brazil was down over 30%.

Brazil traffic is now on the upswing so growth is resuming. April was up 9% and no doubt that's thanks to Brazil picking up again.

axiom wrote:

This question is absurd. Of course it's global. Miami is the financial and cultural bridge between much of Latin America and the Global North. It's a specialist role within the "global" economy, but that's true of every so-called global city. These connections don't materialize out of thin air...

Miami is a global city, yes. It is not nor will it ever be a global airline gateway, which is what I believe the OP is asking.

DfwAussie wrote:

axiom wrote:

This question is absurd. Of course it's global. Miami is the financial and cultural bridge between much of Latin America and the Global North. It's a specialist role within the "global" economy, but that's true of every so-called global city. These connections don't materialize out of thin air...

Miami is a global city, yes. It is not nor will it ever be a global airline gateway, which is what I believe the OP is asking.

It already is in every sense a global airline gateway.

MAH4546 wrote:

DfwAussie wrote:

axiom wrote:

This question is absurd. Of course it's global. Miami is the financial and cultural bridge between much of Latin America and the Global North. It's a specialist role within the "global" economy, but that's true of every so-called global city. These connections don't materialize out of thin air...

Miami is a global city, yes. It is not nor will it ever be a global airline gateway, which is what I believe the OP is asking.

It already is in every sense a global airline gateway.

It only has service to three continents. When MIA has nonstop airline service to Africa, Asia, and Australia, get back to me. Otherwise, it is a great city for cnx to Latin America.

DfwAussie wrote:

MAH4546 wrote:

DfwAussie wrote:

Miami is a global city, yes. It is not nor will it ever be a global airline gateway, which is what I believe the OP is asking.

It already is in every sense a global airline gateway.

It only has service to three continents. When MIA has nonstop airline service to Africa, Asia, and Australia, get back to me. Otherwise, it is a great city for cnx to Latin America.

With that logic JFK and LAX aren't global gateways

Natflyer wrote:

And no US airport will become an international transit hub while every transit passenger has to clear Immigration and Customs just to catch a connecting flight, say LHR-MIA-LIM. Why bother?

And yet, several US hubs and especially MIA are exactly that. There are many people from the Caribbean and Latin America who connect through Miami to other international destinations. For several places, despite the requirement to go through immigration and customs, MIA is the most convenient hub to make that connection due to schedule and price. I'll give you the example of a recent business trip to Montevideo where on the return, there were several sports officials from various Caribbean islands on the AA flight to MIA on their way home. One simply needs to listen to the connecting gate information announced on flights from Latam destinations when landing in Miami. You'll hear announcements for London, Kingston, Nassau, etc. on flights from Panama City e.g.

Brickell305 wrote:

Natflyer wrote:

And no US airport will become an international transit hub while every transit passenger has to clear Immigration and Customs just to catch a connecting flight, say LHR-MIA-LIM. Why bother?

And yet, several US hubs and especially MIA are exactly that. There are many people from the Caribbean and Latin America who connect through Miami to other international destinations. For several places, despite the requirement to go through immigration and customs, MIA is the most convenient hub to make that connection due to schedule and price. I'll give you the example of a recent business trip to Montevideo where on the return, there were several sports officials from various Caribbean islands on the AA flight to MIA on their way home. One simply needs to listen to the connecting gate information announced on flights from Latam destinations when landing in Miami. You'll hear announcements for London, Kingston, Nassau, etc. on flights from Panama City e.g.

I was thinking the same thing. I was in MIA last month and struck up a conversation with a guy sitting next to me and he was part of a tour group from Canada who flew in from YYZ to connect to EZE.

DfwAussie wrote:

MAH4546 wrote:

DfwAussie wrote:

Miami is a global city, yes. It is not nor will it ever be a global airline gateway, which is what I believe the OP is asking.

It already is in every sense a global airline gateway.

It only has service to three continents. When MIA has nonstop airline service to Africa, Asia, and Australia, get back to me. Otherwise, it is a great city for cnx to Latin America.

But.. It already has a nonstop airline service to Asia..

It will not be anything of value until they add a ton more of Immigration and Security lines. Going through MIA is an absolute nightmare snd horror show. I avoid it like the plague.

TonyBurr wrote:

It will not be anything of value until they add a ton more of Immigration and Security lines. Going through MIA is an absolute nightmare snd horror show. I avoid it like the plague.

When is the last time you've flown to/through Miami? The immigration process has improved immensely with the kiosks and the mobile app. The last time I flew in, I was out of the airport in about 20 minutes if that much as I used the mobile app. You are also no longer stopped at customs so when you are done with immigration, after collecting bags (if you checked any), you just walk straight outside. The MIA international arrival experience used to be horrific but it's now excellent. Vastly better than FLL for comparison.

Maybe for a few decades, but it's very likely to be underwater by the end of the century...

I hate threads dealing with MIA because it always devolves into giddy super fan boys and unreasonably bitter haters (usually from NYC or LA) attacking each other, with the Miamians being blinded by civic pride and the foreigners not knowing anything about MIA and basing their understandings on 1980's conceptions of the city.

MIA is a very big niche hub at the moment, with the potential of being a global gateway with flights to East Asia (NRT/HKG) and Africa (JNB/CPT).

That being said, in order for MIA to mature, Miami (and the rest of South Florida) has to mature--and as some posters point out, that maturity is greatly contingent on how politicians and the polis decide to respond to climate change and how the decide to further develop the city.

As much as I love Miami and MIA, Miami has some big issues (mostly political) to attend to before it can be a truly formidable global city and airport.

DfwAussie wrote:

It only has service to three continents. When MIA has nonstop airline service to Africa, Asia, and Australia, get back to me.

Incorrect. MIA currently has scheduled nonstop service to 4 continents (both Americas, Europe, Asia) all with multiple carriers.

And it's maintained service to Africa before, so it's not much of a stretch to see it doing so again.

Miami as a Global Gateway, sure, it already is for 4 continents to South Florida.

Could Miami be a Global superhub? No, I can't see that any time soon:
Whilst it is geographically well situated for transiting Africa-North America and Latin America-Europe, having to collect bags, clear Customs, drop bags off and reclear Security on International transfers puts people off (sure, if you're travelling from Central America or the Caribbean, you don't have many other options without taking a massive detour, so you'll take it).
But I'd say a bigger issue for being a global hub is what happens during Hurricane season; If flights are cancelled, that wreaks havoc with transfer pax, if flights are diverted elsewhere, it offers up even more issues with transit pax, unless every flight is diverted to the same place -and if a big enough facility exists for that, why wouldn't it just be the global hub, in the first place?

The Terminals themselves would also need expansion, so I really don't see MIA becoming a superhub.

The primary measuring point for a 'global superhub' is the ease of connections, as that's the whole point of a 'hub'. And connecting from an international to an international flight anywhere in the US, is a nightmare. A nightmare not improved by the fact, you'll need a bloody visa to facilitate your connection.

Besides, geographically Miami still has a long way to go before it can be on the same level as e.g. LHR, FRA, CDG, AMS or DXB. And whilst continental drift may eventually make that a reality, it's not going to happen whilst any of us are still alive and breathing.

LAX772LR wrote:

DfwAussie wrote:

It only has service to three continents. When MIA has nonstop airline service to Africa, Asia, and Australia, get back to me.

Incorrect. MIA currently has scheduled nonstop service to 4 continents (both Americas, Europe, Asia) all with multiple carriers.

And it's maintained service to Africa before, so it's not much of a stretch to see it doing so again.

Ah, yep...I forget TLV. I was thinking more westbound service. There is the never ending rumor of AA doing JNB. Whether it can sustain iy would be interesting.

Miami wrote:

DfwAussie wrote:

MAH4546 wrote:

It already is in every sense a global airline gateway.

It only has service to three continents. When MIA has nonstop airline service to Africa, Asia, and Australia, get back to me. Otherwise, it is a great city for cnx to Latin America.

But.. It already has a nonstop airline service to Asia..

I stand corrected, I forgot TLV.

jetblueguy22 wrote:

DfwAussie wrote:

MAH4546 wrote:

It already is in every sense a global airline gateway.

It only has service to three continents. When MIA has nonstop airline service to Africa, Asia, and Australia, get back to me. Otherwise, it is a great city for cnx to Latin America.

With that logic JFK and LAX aren't global gateways

I forgot MIA-TLV, so I was wrong on that post. JFK is missing Australia. LAX does have service to all populated continents. My point is there will never be scores of flights say from east Asia to MIA for cnx to Latin America. Those, while few, go via the west coast.

DfwAussie wrote:

Miami wrote:

DfwAussie wrote:

It only has service to three continents. When MIA has nonstop airline service to Africa, Asia, and Australia, get back to me. Otherwise, it is a great city for cnx to Latin America.

But.. It already has a nonstop airline service to Asia..

I stand corrected, I forgot TLV.

TLV hasn't started AFAIK...I think he was referring to Qatar

DfwAussie wrote:

Miami wrote:

DfwAussie wrote:

It only has service to three continents. When MIA has nonstop airline service to Africa, Asia, and Australia, get back to me. Otherwise, it is a great city for cnx to Latin America.

But.. It already has a nonstop airline service to Asia..

I stand corrected, I forgot TLV.

It's not TLV. It's DOH and IST.

Brickell305 wrote:

Natflyer wrote:

And no US airport will become an international transit hub while every transit passenger has to clear Immigration and Customs just to catch a connecting flight, say LHR-MIA-LIM. Why bother?

And yet, several US hubs and especially MIA are exactly that. There are many people from the Caribbean and Latin America who connect through Miami to other international destinations. For several places, despite the requirement to go through immigration and customs, MIA is the most convenient hub to make that connection due to schedule and price. I'll give you the example of a recent business trip to Montevideo where on the return, there were several sports officials from various Caribbean islands on the AA flight to MIA on their way home. One simply needs to listen to the connecting gate information announced on flights from Latam destinations when landing in Miami. You'll hear announcements for London, Kingston, Nassau, etc. on flights from Panama City e.g.

There are probably a lot of people connecting in MIA from international to international. As there are in New York and Chicago. But if the US would allow simple transfer, more would probably consider MIA (and other US airports) for transfer. Not having to apply for a Visa/Esta and not having to deal with US customs and immigration is an advantage for other hubs.

Brickell305 wrote:

It's not TLV. It's DOH and IST.

It might serve a partly asian city, but IST is in Europe.

Bostrom wrote:

Brickell305 wrote:

Natflyer wrote:

And no US airport will become an international transit hub while every transit passenger has to clear Immigration and Customs just to catch a connecting flight, say LHR-MIA-LIM. Why bother?

And yet, several US hubs and especially MIA are exactly that. There are many people from the Caribbean and Latin America who connect through Miami to other international destinations. For several places, despite the requirement to go through immigration and customs, MIA is the most convenient hub to make that connection due to schedule and price. I'll give you the example of a recent business trip to Montevideo where on the return, there were several sports officials from various Caribbean islands on the AA flight to MIA on their way home. One simply needs to listen to the connecting gate information announced on flights from Latam destinations when landing in Miami. You'll hear announcements for London, Kingston, Nassau, etc. on flights from Panama City e.g.

There are probably a lot of people connecting in MIA from international to international. As there are in New York and Chicago. But if the US would allow simple transfer, more would probably consider MIA (and other US airports) for transfer. Not having to apply for a Visa/Esta and not having to deal with US customs and immigration is an advantage for other hubs.

Brickell305 wrote:

It's not TLV. It's DOH and IST.

It might serve a partly asian city, but IST is in Europe.

I agree with you that more people would if the restrictions were relaxed. I just wanted to counter what seems to be the conventional wisdom on this forum that no one uses US hubs for int'l-int'l connections when many people do. Yes, clearing immigration and having to re-clear security is inconvenient but many of the people who are making these connections also fly to the US and connect through one of the major hubs before getting to their final destination and as such are familiar with the process. Re the visa issue, yes they are difficult for many individuals to obtain. However, for other individuals, usually the middle class and up (who are the people who travel most frequently) the process isn't nearly as difficult and they receive a 10 year multi-entry visa. Many people simply schedule their renewal immediately after the expiration of the previous even if they have no immediate plans to travel to the US so that their ability to travel is not hindered. I'm of the impression that people believe that they are required to obtain a visa every single time they fly to the US. That's not the case.

I stand corrected re IST.

Brickell305 wrote:

DfwAussie wrote:

Miami wrote:

But.. It already has a nonstop airline service to Asia..

I stand corrected, I forgot TLV.

It's not TLV. It's DOH and IST.

I believe El Al has announced MIA. Istanbul is not in Asia.

727LOVER wrote:

DfwAussie wrote:

Miami wrote:

But.. It already has a nonstop airline service to Asia..

I stand corrected, I forgot TLV.

TLV hasn't started AFAIK...I think he was referring to Qatar

I was, but I was under the impression was that El Al had announced MIA. I don't get much time to keep up with these threads. Still my mistake in forgetting MIA has QR.

DfwAussie wrote:

Ah, yep...I forget TLV.

And DOH@MIA and DXB@FLL.

Brickell305 wrote:

It's DOH and IST.

DfwAussie wrote:

Istanbul is not in Asia.

Slightly off on both accounts. Like Russia, Turkey geographically resides in both Europe and Asia, with the demarcation running straight through Istanbul... though IST sits on the city's European side and the ICAO considers it European.

DfwAussie wrote:

There is the never ending rumor of AA doing JNB. Whether it can sustain iy would be interesting.

I can't speak to what AA will/won't do, but SA ran JNB-CPT-MIA for years.

It switched to JNB-CPT-FLL-ATL upon their alliance with DL, and then later to IAD upon alliance with UA.... so tough to say that the market was/wasn't sustainable when alliance logistics drove its discontinuation more than anything.

AA does have planes that could fly to Johannesburg, 787-9 would do it. A350-900 might also do it, AA has them on order. IF AA wants to fly to South Africa they could and should but will they ? Probably not. The US3 have become very conservative, even India seems too exotic today for them. Outside of Europe, the Orient and Australia the rest of the world doesn't exist.

There were strong rumors of a SAA CPT-MIA flight not too long ago. Political turmoil st SAA has probably delayed any sort of growth talk. With the Chairwoman of the Board hopefully getting axed today, maybe we'll see some positive changes coming out of SAA in the future

LAX772LR wrote:

DfwAussie wrote:

Ah, yep...I forget TLV.

And DOH@MIA and DXB@FLL.

Brickell305 wrote:

It's DOH and IST.

DfwAussie wrote:

Istanbul is not in Asia.

Slightly off on both accounts. Like Russia, Turkey geographically resides in both Europe and Asia, with the demarcation running straight through Istanbul... though IST sits on the city's European side and the ICAO considers it European.

DfwAussie wrote:

There is the never ending rumor of AA doing JNB. Whether it can sustain iy would be interesting.

I can't speak to what AA will/won't do, but SA ran JNB-CPT-MIA for years.

It switched to JNB-CPT-FLL-ATL upon their alliance with DL, and then later to IAD upon alliance with UA.... so tough to say that the market was/wasn't sustainable when alliance logistics drove its discontinuation more than anything.

Of course you will argue, but FLL is not MIA. There's a reason EK chose FLL over MIA. . Why I am not not sure, but they obviously didn't feel the need to opt for MIA over FLL. What SA did in the past is irrelevant. If it was profitable, there would still be service. The argument that IST is more Asian than European has been hashed out on a.net numerous times. I'm not going to debate the geography of the planet with a Middle Earth elf.

DfwAussie wrote:

Of course you will argue, but FLL is not MIA. There's a reason EK chose FLL over MIA. . Why I am not not sure, but they obviously didn't feel the need to opt for MIA over FLL.

Because Qatar was already at Miami and there were connecting opportunities with interline/codeshare partner JetBlue at Ft. Lauderdale.

TonyBurr wrote:

It will not be anything of value until they add a ton more of Immigration and Security lines. Going through MIA is an absolute nightmare snd horror show. I avoid it like the plague.

It is and so is LAX. I used MIA LAST Year 8 times or so and even on the tuff days it's no more of a pain then LAX or LHR.

DfwAussie wrote:

Of course you will argue, but FLL is not MIA.

What's to argue? They're (obviously) not the same airport. They are, however, the same metro with numerous interlocking overflows.

DfwAussie wrote:

There's a reason EK chose FLL over MIA. . Why I am not not sure

Fairly likely to do with the letter "B" and the number "6"

DfwAussie wrote:

If it was profitable, there would still be service.

That's a fallacy that's often disproved in the industry.

DfwAussie wrote:

The argument that IST is more Asian than European has been hashed out on a.net numerous times. I'm not going to debate the geography of the planet with a Middle Earth elf.

...the heck are you babbling about? I'm not one who's even making that argument.

jfk777 wrote:

The US3 have become very conservative, even India seems too exotic today for them. Outside of Europe, the Orient and Australia the rest of the world doesn't exist.

And yet we have a US carrier flying to multiple destinations in India.
We have another one flying to multiple countries on the African continent.
And then there's that whole continent of S.America, which isn't exactly in Europe, "the Orient" nor Australia, and yet 3 of the 4 US Legacies fly there....

LAX772LR wrote:

DfwAussie wrote:

Of course you will argue, but FLL is not MIA.

What's to argue? They're (obviously) not the same airport. They are, however, the same metro with numerous interlocking overflows.

DfwAussie wrote:

There's a reason EK chose FLL over MIA. . Why I am not not sure

Fairly likely to do with the letter "B" and the number "6"

DfwAussie wrote:

If it was profitable, there would still be service.

That's a fallacy that's often disproved in the industry.

DfwAussie wrote:

The argument that IST is more Asian than European has been hashed out on a.net numerous times. I'm not going to debate the geography of the planet with a Middle Earth elf.

...the heck are you babbling about? I'm not one who's even making that argument.

Ok, geez you are touchy. I realize elves don't have much of a personality but crikey you are borderline offensively argumentative with just about everyone. Welcome to my foes list, you're the first.