Fort Smith airport traffic drops 20% in October (updated)

Paid enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport could reach lows not seen since after the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy.

Paid October enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport were 7,192, a significant 20.5 percent decrease from October 2007 figures. For the first 10 months of the year, paid enplanements at the airport total 70,634, an 11.6 percent decline from the same period in 2007.

The highest annual enplanement total at the airport in the past 10 years was in 1998, with 103,540. That figure dropped to 85,268 in 2002. Total paid enplanements in 2007 improved to 96,137. It’s not likely 2008 traffic will meet the 2007 number.

Airport Director John Parker said the October decrease is possibly the result of businesses pulling back on travel budgets in the slowing economy.

“It’s just the economy and the high oil prices previous to this,” Parker said.

Parker estimated the airport will end the year with 10 percent fewer enplanements than 2007.