"Cincinnati airport's rebound begins"

Friday, August 22, 2003

Airport's rebound begins 
By Bob Driehaus 
The Cincinnati (OH) Post


The recovery at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport leapt
forward again with 1 million passengers boarding planes at the airport in
July for the first time since July 2000. 

The good news was coupled with a record number of daily departures for July.


The airport said the 1.01 million passengers who boarded planes in July
represent a 5.8 percent increase from July 2002. 

About 629 planes departed a day, up from 595 departures a day in July 2002. 

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky's usage peaked in 2000, before the economic
downturn and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, with more than 12 million
passengers boarding planes at CVG in 2000. 

As the economic recovery picks up steam and travelers regain their
confidence after 9-11, numbers are picking up again at the airport. 

 It is on track to record 11.5 million passengers this year, said Ted
Bushelman, airport spokesman. 

"We still have a way to go before our annual passenger numbers return to the
peak level that we saw in the year 2000," said Robert Holscher, director of
aviation. However, the current numbers are an encouraging sign that we are
well on our way." 

The recovery is all the more impressive considering that business was down 1
percent nationwide while it grew at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky. 

"Once again we are fortunate that our traffic continues to recover faster
than the nation as a whole. This is good news for the more than 50,000
tri-state jobs that are tied to the airport," Holscher said. 

Bushelman said July is one of the slower months for the airport, which makes
the million-passenger mark more impressive. 

He said the busiest time of year is the back-to-school period in late August
and early September. 

The airport has begun construction of a third north-south runway just west
of the existing runways. Bushelman said construction is on schedule. 

"Everything is working fine, thank goodness," he said. 

The new $237 million north-south runway, due to open in December 2005, is
expected to help increase the airport's capacity by 26 percent to about 158
flights per hour in good weather. 

Airport construction projects are expected to pump nearly $1 billion into
the local economy over the next 12 years, with a $6.5 billion economic
impact to the region from tourism and airport-related spending by 2011.


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dc/dcboard.php

*****************************************