Fort Smith, XNA see limited traffic gains

The regional airports in Northwest Arkansas and Fort Smith have seen more traffic for the first 11 months of 2012, but just barely.

U.S. air carriers have reduced the number of planes in their fleets, which has limited access to seats for regional airports that feed the larger airport hubs.

American, the largest carrier serving the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) and the Fort Smith Regional Airport, reported systemwide November enplanements up just 0.6%. For the first 11 months of the year, the carrier’s enplanements are up just 0.4%.

Delta Airlines, also a major carrier to XNA and Fort Smith, saw November systemwide enplanements up 0.6% in November, and up 0.5% for the first 11 months of 2012.

Airlines for America (A4A), the U.S. airline industry trade association, forecasted that nearly 42 million passengers will fly during the holiday season between Dec. 17 and Jan. 8. The estimate is about 1% less than the actual traffic for the 2011-2012 period.

“Planes are expected to be about 85 percent full over the period, and the busiest days could reach 90 percent, as carriers have better matched seating capacity to demand to cope with record fuel prices and other rising costs,” noted the A4A report.

Daily passenger volumes are expected to range from 1.5 million to 2.3 million, with the busiest travel days expected to be Dec. 21-23, Dec. 26, Jan. 2, 2013.

XNA ENPLANEMENTS
November enplanements at XNA totaled 46,678, up slightly compared to the 46,504 in November 2011, and the fourth consecutive year-over-year increase. For the first 11 months of 2012, enplanements at XNA total 523,011, up 0.6% compared to the same period in 2011.

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

Scott van Laningham, executive director and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, said one reason behind tepid traffic is “businesses are still holding back on budgets to see what happens with the federal budget.” However, he said moves by airlines to reduce capacity is the biggest factor in limited enplanement growth.

“A big part of it is the function of the whole system. The airlines have done a very good job of squeezing the excess capacities out of the system,” he said.

He also believes the days of double-digit growth in airline enplanements may be over, suggesting that a 3% to 5% range appears more sustainable.

“If we could get back to that (3% to 5%) on a fairly consistent basis, I would be happy,” Laningham said.

Laningham said the airport has had “mildly encouraging” talks in the attempt to recruit a discount air carrier, but “no imminent announcement” is in the works.

FORT SMITH
November enplanements at Fort Smith totaled 7,069, down 6.1% compared to November 2011. For the first 11 months of 2012, enplanements at Fort Smith total 80,106, up 1.4% compared to the 78,994 in the same period of 2011.

American Airlines is the most active carrier at Fort Smith. The airline has 46,831 enplanements out of Fort Smith for the first 11 months of 2012, up over 46,193 during the 2011 period. American enplanements during November totaled 4,100, down from the 4,378 during November 2011.

Delta has 33,275 enplanements out of Fort Smith for the first 11 months, ahead of the 32,801 during the 2011 period.

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.

LITTLE ROCK
Enplanements at the Bill & Hillary Clinton Airport (Little Rock National Airport), total 965,805 for the first 10 months of 2012, up 5.29% compared to the 2011 period. The airport had not released November numbers as of Dec. 18.

Barring significant traffic declines in November and December, 2012 could mark the end of five consecutive years of enplanement declines at the Little Rock airport.