March airline traffic up at Fort Smith, XNA

BusinessFort SmithNews on the WireNorthwest Arkansas

by The City Wire staff ([email protected]) April 12, 2012 3:03 pm 80 views 

Enplanements during the first quarter of 2012 are up 9.66% at the Fort Smith Regional Airport and down just 0.48% at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA).

March enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport totaled 7,472, up 6.34% compared to March 2011. For the first three months of 2012, Fort Smith enplanements are 20,478, up 9.66% compared to the 2011 period.

Traffic at Fort Smith was driven by a 8.75% increase in first quarter enplanements with Delta Airlines, and a 10.3% boost with American.

Enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport during 2011 eked out a 0.12% gain over 2010, marking two consecutive years of enplanement growth at the airport. For the year, the airport posted 86,234 enplanements compared to 86,129 during 2010.

March enplanements at XNA totaled 50,898, up 1.39% compared to March 2011. Year-to-date enplanements at XNA total 127,510, down from 128,132 in the 2011 period.

Enplanements at XNA totaled 562,747 during 2011, down 1.38% compared to 2010. Traffic at XNA 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.

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.

March traffic for American Airlines in the U.S. was down 0.1%. Year-to-date boardings in all regions served by American totaled 20.787 million, up 3.4%.

American is the primary carrier at Arkansas’ three largest commercial airfields.

March traffic for Delta Airlines was up 1.9%. Year-to-date boardings in all regions served by Delta Airlines totaled 43.359 million, up 1%.

U.S. airlines carried 730 million total system passengers during 2011, up 1.3% from 2010, according to the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Domestically, the airlines carried 637.5 million passengers, up 1.3% from 2010. Internationally, the U.S. carried 92.5 million passengers, up 1.7% from 2010.

The top five U.S. airlines by enplaned passengers during 2011 were:
Delta: 113.485 million
Southwest: 110.587 million
American: 86.042 million
US Airways: 52.921 million
United: 50.474 million