Arkansas airport enplanements down in September
by October 28, 2013 12:25 pm 81 views
Only one of Arkansas’ three largest commercial airports has year-to-date traffic gains, with all three fields posting declines in September enplanements. The results are not a surprise considering relatively flat patterns of national airline traffic.
September enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport totaled 6,821, down almost 4% compared to September 2012. The Fort Smith Regional Airport is served by flights from Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth.
For the first nine months of 2013, enplanements at the airport total 63,764, down 2.5% compared to the same period in 2012. The trend continues to improve from a 7.4% year-over-year decline at the end of the first quarter.
American Airlines continues to be the largest carrier at Fort Smith with more than 58% of all enplanements for the first nine months of 2013.
Enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport totaled 86,653 during 2012, just ahead of the 86,234 in 2011, and marked three consecutive years of enplanement gains.
XNA ACTIVITY
Travelers flying out of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) during September totaled 47,212, down 0.29% compared to the 47,351 during September 2012. The airport has more than 10 service connections.
For the first nine months of the year, XNA enplanements total 435,743, up 2.7% compared to the same period in 2012. XNA is the only Arkansas airport to post positive year-to-date enplanements through September.
Although down in September, enplanement trends remain higher than the 2.42% year-over-year gain at the end of the first quarter of 2013.
Enplanements at XNA totaled 565,045 during 2012, up just 0.4% compared to 2011. Although slight, the gain prevented XNA from posting two-consecutive years of enplanement declines.
American Airlines remains the dominant carrier at XNA with 42.27% of all enplanements for the first nine months of 2013. Delta is second with 27.29% of enplanements followed by United Airlines at 15.25%.
XNA’s first full year of traffic was 1999, and the airport posted eight consecutive years of enplanement gains before seeing a decline in 2008. It reached a peak of 598,886 in 2007.
LITTLE ROCK
Enplanements at the Bill & Hillary Clinton Airport (Little Rock National Airport), totaled 835,670 during the the first nine months of 2013, down 3.54% compared to the same period of 2012. September 2013 enplanements totaled 84,673, down 5.83% compared to September 2012.
Enplanements in 2012 totaled 1.147 million, up 4.07% compared to 2011. The 2012 numbers also ended five consecutive years of enplanement declines at Arkansas’ largest commercial field.
The largest carrier out of Little Rock is Southwest, with 30.8% of enplanements for the first nine months of 2013. American is second with 22.8%, followed close by Delta with 21.79%.
Delta Airlines reported total system traffic during September of 16.074 million enplanements, up 1.8%. The year-to-date traffic is up 0.7%.
American Airlines reported total September enplanements of 8.408 million, up 1.4%. For the year, the enplanements total 81.965 million, up just 0.5%.