March Fort Smith enplanement figures improve
by April 6, 2009 5:14 pm 53 views
March may have brought an end to the big declines in enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport.
March enplanements were 6,953, down just 3.8% compared to March 2008. More importantly, the year-to-date trend is moving in the right direction, with January-March enplanements of 17,928 down 14.9% compared to the same period in 2008. For perspective, the 14.9% decline is best viewed against January and February numbers.
February enplanements at the airport totaled 5,525, down 18.1% compared to February 2008. January enplanements dipped 20.9% compared to January 2008.
“It is a positive trend,” Airport Director John Parker said of the slight March decline.
He said the airlines were more proactive during the 2009 Spring Break cycle in offering competitive fares out of the smaller airports and not just the big hubs.
“That had to have some impact,” Parker said of the lower fares. “And we hope more area citizens continue to take advantage of these lower fares.”
Passenger enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport totaled 87,030 in 2008, down 12.2 percent from the 99,127 enplanements in 2007. The 2008 traffic total is the lowest at the airport in the past 10 years.
American operates five flights a day — all connecting to Dallas-Fort Worth — out of Fort Smith. Northwest has three flights a day to Memphis, and Delta has one flight a day to Atlanta.