NORFOLK, Va. — A new report doesn't think too highly of one airport in Hampton Roads. Forbes Advisor ranks Norfolk International as the 8th worst airport for holiday travel.
According to Forbes, the rankings are based on criteria including flight delays, cancellations and holiday ticket costs. The report shows, on average, nearly 6 percent of flights arrive late to Norfolk.
In addition, this holiday season, the average ticket from the airport costs more than $430.
Airport officials released a statement to News 3 about the report and said they have not reviewed the specific data in the study, but they do believe the data is misleading.
"When arriving aircraft to Norfolk are delayed, the cause of the delay is usually unrelated to operations at the destination airport and more likely a result of an earlier event in the day," said Steve Sterling, the executive vice president and chief of staff at Norfolk International Airport. "In other words, a delayed departure at any origin airport will most likely result in a delayed arrival at the destination airport and since we are typically the end of a spoke, especially late at night, we see a larger accumulation of these delays here at Norfolk."
Sterling also said "In addition, over the past five years that this data represents, Norfolk International Airport has grown from four airlines to seven (2017-2021) and will be adding an eighth airline when Spirit Airlines begins service in March 2023. The addition of these Ultra-Low Cost Carriers (ULCC) airlines provides lower airfare cost options for travel to and from Norfolk International Airport as well as new direct service destinations."
