Other Articles in this Category
Most Viewed Stories
Most Commented Stories
Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport Posts Stronger-Than-Expected Passenger Traffic
Panama City Beach – The Airport Authority announced that air passenger traffic for the first full month of operations at the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP) was nearly triple the number of passengers last year.
Total passenger traffic for June at the new airport was 83,181 passengers.
Last June, 28,268 passengers traveled through the now-closed Panama City – Bay County International Airport (PFN).
Northwest Florida Beaches International, which replaced PFN, opened May 23 with new service from Southwest Airlines and additional service from Delta Air Lines.
“Passenger traffic for our first full month far exceeded our expectations,” said Airport Executive Director Randy Curtis. “These are strong results that we hope to continue to build upon.”
For the month of July, Beaches International has been offering a daily average of 1,837 available seats on departing planes, according to USA Today Travel.
By comparison, Fort Walton airport has 1,500 daily available seats, and Tallahassee airport has 1,336 seats.
In addition, Beaches International now has more available seats of departing flights than airports in Sarasota/Bradenton, Key West, Daytona Beach, Melbourne, Gainesville and St. Petersburg.
“Last year, operating at PFN, we were at the bottom of the list of Florida airports with only 508 available seats,” Curtis noted.
Today, Beaches International offers “single plane” service to Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Memphis, Nashville, Providence and Orlando, with the majority of the service on narrow body 737’s and MD88s.
“And with the addition of Southwest Airlines, we have seen a significant reduction in airfares to levels we have not experienced in many years,” Curtis said.
The $318-million Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport is the first commercial-service international airport built in the U.S. in the past 15 years.
The new airport and its 10,000-foot runway are built on approximately 1,300 acres of a 4,000-acre site.
The 125,000-square-foot passenger terminal features seven gates, two restaurants, two retail shops and five car rental ticketing counters.
For more information, visit www.iflybeaches.com.
See archived 'Local News' stories »
| These are great numbers, no doubt. And the triple times increase in enplanements are arguably due to the Southwest influence. I was wondering if Southwest ran some incredible deals at launch to entice travelers to fly, and when those deals are gone, what effect that may have. As for comparing to surrounding airports, yes--the number of enplanements is twice that of Tallahassee, but TLH is typically quiet in the summer, with FSU students away and lawmakers staying home for the summer months. Further, airlines at TLH have the flexibility of changing equipment based on passenger loads. For instance, flights in the summer months are mostly on regional jets, but during session or on football weekends, larger planes are used. Southwest does not have this flexibility, as it operates only one type of aircraft. It will be interesting to see how the new airport and Southwest perform in the low season of winter when few want to visit the beaches. |
|
| philip - Jul 30, 2010 04:25:16 PM | Remove Comment |
