Fort Smith airport November traffic up 15.4%

November enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport boosted 2010 traffic past the dismal 2009 total, and were more than 15%  higher than November 2009.

Traffic out of the airport during November totaled 7,179, up 15.4% compared to November 2009. In October, enplanements were up 26.39%.

Enplanements in Fort Smith total 79,121 for the first 11 months of 2010, up 9% from the 72,545 for the same period in 2009.Traffic at the regional airport has seen two years of consecutive dips.

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 Air Transport Association of America announced Dec. 8 that it expects 43.6 million people to travel in the U.S. by commercial air during the Christmas and New Year cycle. The estimate marks a 3% increase over the 2009 period.

“With demand for air travel showing signs of improvement, airlines are hoping to see industry profitability continue into 2011,” ATA President and CEO James May said in a statement. “A sustained return of industry profits would enable the kind of investment that will benefit air transportation for the long term, which would help everyone.”

However, an increase in Fort Smith enplanements during December will come with fewer overall seats. American Eagle is cutting one flight between Dallas-Fort Worth and Fort Smith beginning Dec. 16.

American Eagle reported enplanements systemwide of 1.377 million in November, up 2.4% over November 2009. Year-to-date, American Eagle enplanements are up 1.3%. Delta, the other carrier at the airport, reported that its regional U.S. enplanements were up 0.7% in November. For the year, Delta’s regional U.S. enplanements are down 1.1%.

Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) also is recovering from two years of consecutive declines. For the first 10 months of 2010 (XNA had not reported October traffic as of Dec. 9), the airport had 476,919 enplanements, up 5.4% over the 452,311 in the 2009 period.

PAST DECADE OF ENPLANEMENTS (Fort Smith Regional Airport)
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