"Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Okla., Airports' Traffic Taking off Again"

Friday, May 14, 2004

Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Okla., Airports' Traffic Taking off Again
The Daily Oklahoman


Officials at Oklahoma's two commercial airports are celebrating the
apparent renewed popularity of air transportation in the state as both
airports posted more than 10 percent growth in April passenger counts.

The improvement marked the second consecutive month of double-digit
growth in year-over-year traffic levels at both Will Rogers World
Airport and Tulsa International Airport.

"Coming off a strong month like we saw in March, we were hopeful the
trend would continue, but we're still pleasantly surprised with April
numbers also being in double digits," Will Rogers spokeswoman Karen
Carney said. "The most important thing is we're seeing some healthy
trends for the air carriers. That also translates into revenues to the
airport because we're seeing more parking, and the food and retail
vendors are benefiting as well."

Nearly 134,000 passengers boarded planes at Will Rogers last month, up
more than 10 percent from 121,118 in April 2003. The improvement follows
an 11 percent gain in March.

Tulsa's commercial airport had 117,247 outbound passengers in April, up
nearly 16 percent from 101,465 a year ago. The airport experienced a 17
percent year-over-year growth in March.

"In March, we said the improvement was probably because of spring break,
but we didn't have anything like that in April," Tulsa International
spokeswoman Mary Smith said. "I think people are feeling more
comfortable spending money on air travel. That's great news for the
airlines, and it's great news for the airports."

Smith attributed much of the recent growth in Tulsa to the city's
economy, which has received boosts in recent months from jobs created by
companies such as Vanguard Car Rental USA and Boeing.

Airport traffic levels have been down nationwide since the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks, but most have been improving steadily in recent
months.

With the strong April numbers, Will Rogers has recorded growth in 10 of
the past 11 months, including an improvement of 6.9 percent for the year
to date. April passenger counts, however, are still down about 3.8
percent from April 2001.

The recovery has been slower in Tulsa, although the airport has posted
three consecutive months of growth.

Traffic counts at the airport are up more than 9 percent since the first
of the year. Despite the recent growth, last month's traffic levels were
still down nearly 12 percent from pre-9/11 levels.

National industry observers say the recovery appears to be picking up
steam nationwide.

"Aviation is roaring back," Federal Aviation Administrator Marion Blakey
said Tuesday at the Lieutenant Governor's Oklahoma Aerospace Summit &
Expo in Oklahoma City. "I've been looking at the figures and forecasts,
and we're finding agreement that we're doing things right."

While most traffic counts remain below 2001 levels, industry leaders
nationwide are beginning to focus more on concerns with overcrowding
rather than problems with having too few people in the airports. The FAA
calls its initiative "Growth Without Gridlock."

Increased traffic levels also may help prove the value of the $110
million improvement and expansion project that began at Will Rogers just
months after the terrorist attacks, Carney said.

"We planned this and based our project on projected continuous growth,"
she said.

"When you don't see the growth happening, you wonder what we're going to
do with all this space. Now that we're seeing the traffic numbers pick
up, even though its a challenging time with the ongoing construction, we
feel good about the decision we made to continue with the project."


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

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


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