Fort Smith enplanements up in November

BusinessFort SmithNews on the Wire

by The City Wire staff ([email protected]) December 12, 2011 9:29 am 50 views 

Enplanement traffic at the Fort Smith Regional Airport was up almost 5% in November, but the year-to-date traffic remains just slightly below 2010 levels.

November enplanements at the airport totaled 7,529, up 4.87% compared to the 7,179 during November 2010. For the first 11 months of 2011, enplanements at the airport total 78,994, down compared to the 79,121 in the 2010 period.

Activity at the airport was improving during 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.

American Airlines reported 4,378 enplanements in November, a slight increase compared to the 4,362 during November 2010. Delta had 3,151 enplanements out of Fort Smith, up 11.8% compared to November 2010.

For the year, Delta has seen enplanement gains in Fort Smith and American is down. Delta, flying passengers to and from its Memphis hub, recorded 32,801 Fort Smith enplanements between January and November, up 10.45% compared to the 2010 period. American has 46,193 enplanements in the 11-month period, down 6.5%.

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 22.429 million passengers in its regional system, down 1.6% compared to the 2010 period.

American Eagle reported 15.924 million passenger boardings during the first 11 months of 2011, up 6.8% compared to the 2010 period. The airline had 1.446 million passengers in November, up 5% compared to November 2010.

ARKANSAS TRAFFIC

Enplanement levels during the second half of 2011 are also declining in Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock.

Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) saw its October traffic hit 47,773, up 0.69% compared to October 2010. (XNA has not posted November enplanements as of Dec. 12.)

During the first 10 months of 2011 the airport reports 473,102 enplanements, down 0.79% compared to the 476,909 in the 2010 period. Traffic at the airport has fallen since June, when year-to-date traffic for the first half of the year was up almost 4% compared to the 2010 period. During 2010, XNA had 570,625 enplanements, up 5.49% over 2009.

October enplanements at the Little Rock National Airport totaled 97,074, down 1.26% compared to October 2010. During the first 10 months of 2011, enplanements totaled 917,269, down 2.62% compared to the 2010 period. (The airport did not have November data as of Dec. 12.) In 2010, the airport had 1.129 million enplanements, down 3.8% compared to 2009, and down 5.3% from 2008.