"Burbank's Bob Hope Airport summer passenger numbers take off"

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Bob Hope Airport summer passenger numbers take off
By Jason Kandel
The Los Angeles (CA) Daily News


BURBANK - Record numbers of travelers flew in and out of the Bob Hope
Airport this summer, brought by an improved economy and more flights by two
new carriers, JetBlue and Delta Air Lines.
 
Nearly 1.5 million passengers traveled through the Burbank airport between
June and August, compared with 1.3 million in the same months last year,
records show. 

August travel set a record: 521,217 travelers, up from 457,894 in August
2004 and even 16 percent more than August 2001, the month before the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks slashed air travel. 

"We're glad to see the traveling public back in force," said airport
spokesman Victor Gill. "Our challenge is to keep giving them the airport
convenience that they have come to expect over time. This is definitely
above and beyond what we had going on prior to 9-11." 

While Bob Hope's numbers jumped, LAX's numbers remained flat. Some 17.4
million travelers used LAX this summer and last summer, statistics show. 

"International traffic came in over forecast, but domestic traffic was flat
because the airlines were trimming their schedules because of much higher
fuel prices and the precarious financial condition of the so-called legacy
carriers," said Tom Winfrey, a spokesman at LAX. "We think traffic will
increase next year." 

More jets as well as more people used Bob Hope this summer. 

In August, the airport had more than 5,700 flights among 10 carriers,
compared with 5,320 in August 2004. 

JetBlue, which on May 24 began offering three daily nonstop flights between
Burbank and New York, carried 97,116 passengers through Aug. 31, according
to airport statistics. 

"JetBlue is pleased to the response from its customers," said carrier
spokeswoman Jenny Dervin. 

Delta Air Lines began offering a daily nonstop flight to Atlanta and flights
to Salt Lake City through SkyWest in January. Its planes carried 29,658
passengers through Bob Hope Airport in June, July and August, statistics
show. 

Southwest Airlines is the biggest user of Bob Hope Airport and usually
accounts for more than 65 percent of passenger traffic, airport officials
said. In June, July and August it carried 919,733 passengers in and out of
Burbank. 

The Burbank airport's all-time high was 4.9 million travelers in 1995. The
airport had 4.7 million in 2003 and was just below the 1995 record in 2004. 

Jack Kyser, the chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic
Development Corp. said the summer travel season was good to Southern
California. But, he said, questions remain over whether the trend can
survive rising fuel prices worsened by the Gulf Coast hurricanes. 

"The fuel market is a major concern," he said. "It's very volatile."


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