XNA Up 17.9 Percent As Continental Adds Flights
by February 17, 2003 12:00 am 71 views
After the terrorism of Sept. 11, 2001, the number of daily round-trip flights from the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill dropped from 46 to 38 as airlines cut service. But the airport will be back up to 45 flights per day in May when Continental Airlines adds two flights to New Jersey.
Scott Van Laningham, executive director of XNA, said the airport had a 17.9 percent increase in enplanements in January when compared to January 2002. For the entire calendar year 2002, enplanements at XNA were up 6.5 percent. Nationally, many airports are reporting that enplanements are down by 10 percent, Van Laningham said.
“Nationally, we’re in great shape compared with what’s going on in the rest of the nation with aviation travel,” Van Laningham said.
On Feb. 11, Continental announced that it plans to begin twice-daily nonstop flights on May 2 from XNA to the airline’s hub in the New York City area, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. The Continental Express flights will be on 50-passenger ERJ-145 ExpressJet aircraft that feature only window and aisle seating.
The flights will depart from XNA at 9:35 a.m. and 5:25 p.m. daily and will arrive about three hours later. Return flights leave Newark at 9:10 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. daily.
XNA currently has flights to Dallas, Chicago, New York City, St. Louis, Houston, Atlanta, Memphis and Charlotte, N.C. Service to Little Rock and Kansas City was canceled last year as travelers began driving to nearby cities instead of flying.