January enplanements up 14.5%
by February 10, 2011 8:12 am 76 views
Even during a January in which the weather didn’t always cooperate, enplanements out of the Fort Smith Regional Airport were up 14.5%.
January enplanements at the airport totaled 6,297, up 14.5% compared to the 5,496 in January 2009. Also, the January increase continued a trend of enplanement gains that began in June 2010.
Airport Executive Director John Parker said in early January that enplanements at the airport are beginning to return to a “normal market range,” but said rising fuel costs could put a damper on the growth.
In mid-January and early February, U.S. airlines began raising fare prices as much as $20 to cover rising fuel costs. However, crude oil futures on Monday (Feb. 7) fell 1.7% to $87.48, pulling back from a recent high of $92.19. As a result, most airline stocks showed gains, with easing tensions in Egypt and other factors indicating a moderating trend in future energy prices.
Enplanements at the airport totaled 86,129 during 2010, up 9.81% over 2009 — an increase that ends two consecutive years of enplanement declines at the airport.
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.
American Eagle reported enplanements systemwide of 1.226 million in January, up 3.7% over January 2010. American Eagle cut one flight between Dallas-Fort Worth and Fort Smith beginning Dec. 16.
Delta, the other carrier at the airport, reported that its regional U.S. enplanements were down 4.6% in January.
Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) also is recovering from two years of consecutive declines. For 2010, the airport had 570,625 enplanements, up 5.49% over 2009.
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