Regional Air Travel Down In July, XNA To Add San Francisco Flight

Editor’s note: This story is a component of The Compass Report. The quarterly Compass Report is managed by The City Wire, and sponsored by Arvest Bank. Supporting sponsors of The Compass Report are Cox Communications and the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Air travel is slowing in Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith area, with officials at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) hopeful that a new flight to San Francisco will help boost activity during the fourth quarter of 2015.

XNA and officials with United Airlines announced Monday (Aug. 17) a new direct flight between Northwest Arkansas and San Francisco. The service is set to begin Oct. 25, and will be the 14th non-stop service out of XNA. The others are Atlanta, New York, Newark, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Orlando, Los Angeles, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Cincinnati, Houston, and Minneapolis/St. Paul.

The airport is served by Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and U.S. Airways.

“In the past two months United has increased frequency to both Chicago and Denver,” Kelly Johnson, XNA’s airport director, said in a statement. “In addition to these added flights, United has also increased aircraft size and convenience to our customers with the introduction of two class cabins and first-class seating.”

Enplanements at XNA totaled 377,298 for the first seven months of 2015, up 1.17% compared to the same period in 2014. XNA ended 2014 with 640,537 enplanements, up 10.15% over 2013, and more than the record of 598,886 enplanements in 2007. The 2014 gain also marked the third consecutive year of increased traffic at the airport.

However, the airport in July posted its third consecutive monthly enplanement decline. XNA had 62,614 enplanements in July, down 2.14% compared to July 2014.

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.

FORT SMITH TRAFFIC
Enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport total 52,406 for the first seven months of 2015, down compared to the 53,157 enplanement during the same period in 2014. Enplanements at Fort Smith totaled 92,869 in 2014, up 9.87% compared to 2013.

July enplanements at Fort Smith totaled 7,554, down 10.3% from July 2014. The airport offers flights to Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth through Delta and American Airlines. The source of decline in travel out of Fort Smith is with Delta. The airline has had 17,489 enplanements out of Fort Smith for the first seven months of 2015, down 24.1% compared to the same period in 2014. Enplanements by American out of Fort Smith during the first seven months total 34,917, up more than 14% compared to the same period in 2014.

The Bill & Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock posted enplanements of 474,675 for the first six months of 2015, down 7.83% compared to the same period in 2015. The airport was the only one of Arkansas’ largest commercial airports to not post an enplanement increase in 2014. Enplanements in 2014 totaled 1.038 million, down 4.32% compared to 2013. (The airport did not have July stats as of Aug. 17.)

July enplanements in Little Rock totaled 94,844, down 4.32% compared to July 2014.