Airport?s Boardings Rise by 10 Percent
by January 30, 2006 12:00 am 57 views
The Fort Smith Regional Airport had a 10.3 percent increase in boarding passengers for 2005 with 99,887 compared to 90,557 enplanements in 2004.
Click here for a chart detailing boardings.
December’s passenger total was up slightly, from 7,920 in 2004 to 7,945 last year, a 0.3 percent increase.
Last year, the airport added more than 300 parking spaces, bringing the total to 550. A 3,600-SF rental car serving building was also completed, which features an automatic car wash, four service bays and a gas pump. The total cost for construction was $1.5 million, said Kent Penney, the airport director.
Penney said the 52,500-SF airport terminal will also add wireless Internet service along with a flight information display this year.
In 2005, American Eagle and Northwest Airlink, the only airlines that serve the airport, reduced service to Fort Smith. American Eagle stopped one roundtrip to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport but expanded one of its 44 passenger jets to 50 seats. Northwest Airlink downsized two regional jets in the fall but increased one of its 34 passenger turboprops to a 50-seat jet in December.
Fort Smith Regional Airport offers five round-trip flights to Dallas-Fort Worth and three to Memphis International Airport.