Fort Smith enplanements up in August

Enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport were up in August, but remain below the year-to-date activity compared to 2010.

For the first eight months of 2011, enplanements at the airport total 56,295, down slightly from the 56,371 in the 2010 period. Activity at the airport was improving tat the first of the year, with enplanements totaling 18,674 for the first quarter of 2011, up 6.7% compared to the same period in 2010.

August enplanements totaled 7,074, up just 0.32% compared to the 7,051 in August 2010. American Airlines reported 4,197 enplanements in August, up compared to the 4,137 during August 2010. Delta had 2,877 enplanements out of Fort Smith, down from the 2,914 in August 2010.

Air traffic nationwide was hurt in August when Hurricane Irene closed many of the major East Coast hubs. Delta Airlines reported it had more than 2,200 flight cancellations and lost an estimated $15 million because of the weather.

For the year, Delta has seen enplanement gains in Fort Smith and American is down. Delta, flying passengers to and from its Memphis hub, has 23,448 Fort Smith enplanements between January and August, up 13.3% compared to the 2010 period. American has 32,847 enplanements in the seven-month period, down 7.94%.

Enplanements at the airport totaled 86,129 during 2010, up 9.81% over 2009 — an increase that ended 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.

Year-to-date, Delta reports 20.874 million passengers in its regional system, down 1.6% compared to the 2010 period.

American Eagle reported 13.252 million passenger boardings during the first eight months of 2011, up 5.7% compared to the 2010 period. The airline had 1.757 million passengers in August, up 4.8% compared to August 2010.

ARKANSAS TRAFFIC
Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) continues to see enplanement gains. During the first eight months of 2011 the airport reports 381,225 enplanements, up 1.47% compared to the 273,589 in the 2010 period. During 2010, XNA had 570,625 enplanements, up 5.49% over 2009.

Enplanements are down at the Little Rock National Airport. During the first seven months of 2011, enplanements totaled 635,564, down 3.15% (The airport did not have August data as of Sept. 22). In 2010, the airport had 1.129 million enplanements, down 3.8% compared to 2009, and down 5.3% from 2008.