Fort Smith enplanements up almost 10% in 2010

Enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport totaled 86,129 during 2010, up 9.81% over 2009 — an increase that ends two consecutive years of enplanement declines at the airport.

Traffic out of the airport during December totaled 7,008, up 19.04% compared to December 2009. In November, enplanements were up more than 14% and were up more than 26% in October.

Enplanements in 2009 at the Fort Smith airport totaled 78,432, down 9.8% from the 87,030 enplanements in 2008. Passenger enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport totaled 87,030 in 2008, down 12.2% from the 99,127 enplanements in 2007. The 2009 traffic total was the lowest at the airport in the past 10 years.

The increase in Fort Smith enplanements in December came with fewer overall seats. American Eagle cut one flight between Dallas-Fort Worth and Fort Smith beginning Dec. 16.

“The overall 2010 numbers recovered to about 2008 level. But of course, we are doing that on two airlines,” said Airport Executive Director John Parker.

Parker said the enplanements are starting to return to the “within the normal market range,” but was not willing to speculate if continued growth would encourage an airline to add flights.

“If we were to get to the higher end of what our market would be, then obviously there would be some pressure to add capacity. But that would be a decision for the carriers to make,” he said.

American Eagle reported enplanements systemwide of 1.34 million in December, up 3.4% over December 2009. Year-to-date, American Eagle enplanements are up 1.5%. Delta, the other carrier at the airport, reported that its regional U.S. enplanements were down 2.8% in December. For the year, Delta’s regional U.S. enplanements are down 1.2%.

Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) also is recovering from two years of consecutive declines. For the first 11 months of 2010, the airport had 524,364 enplanements, up 5.47% over the 497,133 in the 2009 period.

Most economists and airline industry watchers are predicting continued growth for enplanements in 2011. Parker said there are too many variables for him to make a prediction. He noted that if fuel costs continue to rise, “it will cause a dampening of travel because the airlines will have to raise fees to cover that.”

ENPLANEMENT HISTORY (Fort Smith Regional Airport, since 2000)
2010: 86,129
2009: 78,432
2008: 87,030
2007: 99,127
2006: 94,717
2005: 102,607
2004: 92,928
2003: 90,493
2002: 87,944
2001: 95,419
2000: 104,182