XNA enplanements top Clinton National in September

BusinessLatest NewsNorthwest ArkansasTourism / Heritage

by Jeff Della Rosa ([email protected]) ago 0 views 

September enplanements at Northwest Arkansas National Airport (XNA) in Highfill exceeded Clinton National Airport (LIT) in Little Rock, which XNA officials say is the first month this has happened. Enplanements comprise passengers flying out.

Enplanements at XNA, the state’s second-largest commercial airport, jumped by 20.06% to 101,840 from 84,824 in the same month last year. Enplanements at LIT, the state’s largest commercial airport, rose by 1.19% to 97,820 from 96,673.

Enplanements at Fort Smith Regional Airport, the state’s third-largest commercial airport, fell narrowly to 5,346 from 5,361.

According to XNA officials, XNA’s September enplanements hit a record and exceeded Little Rock’s, which was the first month this has happened. Asked whether this was the first time XNA’s monthly enplanements have been higher than LIT’s, a LIT spokesman said, “We only track monthly enplanements for our airport.”

XNA has set monthly enplanement records this year and exceeded 100,000 enplanements in a month for the first time in June. Enplanements hit a monthly record of 108,822 in July and were slightly under 100,000 in August.

From January to September, XNA’s enplanements rose by 13.46% to 835,951 from 736,742 in the same period last year. LIT’s enplanements increased by 5.68% to 874,152 from 827,164. Fort Smith Regional’s enplanements increased by 2.73% to 46,395 from 45,150.

In XNA’s Board of Directors meeting on Sept. 24, CEO Aaron Burkes said 2024 will be “another record year … 2023 was a record year. 2024 is going to be a new record year.” Burkes projected XNA to reach 1.1 million enplanements this year. In 2023, XNA had record enplanements of 991,489.

In 2023, LIT had 1.12 million enplanements, up 10.9% from 1.01 million in 2022. According to Federal Aviation Administration data, which shows enplanements dating back to 1999, LIT reached its highest annual enplanements over the past 25 years in 1999, when they exceeded 1.29 million. Fort Smith Regional hit its record of 112,782 enplanements in 1975.