Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport Service Continues Steady Increase

By Guillet, Jaime

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport’s air service continued its steady upward trajectory to pre-Hurricane Katrina levels this year, benefiting from increased service of new and traditional carriers.

LANOIA added more 2007 seats and flights from airlines such as Southwest, American and Jet Blue.

Airlines had enough confidence in the New Orleans market to return to a pre-Katrina number of departing flights, said Sean Hunter, who was appointed May 16 as LANOIA aviation director.

“Continental … is pleased with the performance of our flights post-Katrina,” said Mary Clark, spokeswoman for Houston-based Continental. “We returned to pre-Katrina departure levels sooner than any other carrier and remain committed to helping regenerate business for New Orleans. We continue to work with the airport and the (New Orleans Metropolitan) Convention and Visitors Bureau to add service when the demand dictates, such as during special events, conventions and festivals.”

Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines’ year-to-date ridership was up 12 percent from 427,692 to 478,511 through October from the same time in 2006.

“We continue to see good levels of business coming in and out of New Orleans,” said Tim Smith, a spokesman for American Airlines. “We’re pretty darn close to where we were pre-hurricane.”

LANOIA also attracted a new carrier, Houston-based ExpressJet, which brought the number serving the airport to 38, or 88 percent, of its 43 pre-Katrina destinations. The new service came from efforts by airport staff and tourism officials touting the city’s recovery, which Hunter said will continue to be a top priority.

LANOIA was operating at 77 percent of its pre-hurricane levels through October with 6.2 million passengers compared with 8.1 million for the same period in 2004.

“All in all, 2007 was a pretty good year for air service at Louis Armstrong,” Hunter said. “We started off with the ExpressJet announcement in January and they started operating in May, then Southwest announced they would be adding flights at the end of the year.”

The added air service shows New Orleans coming back, said Hunter, who expects steady growth next year.

“2008 is holding a lot of promise,” Hunter said. “The first part of the year looks good with all the events in January and Armstrong is going to be the beneficiary of that.”

LANOIA officials expect about 32,000 visitors in New Orleans for a series of events such as the Sugar Bowl, the Bowl Championship Series national championship game and the National Basketball Association All-Star Game in the first two months. Another 2008 possibility is the return of international flights, particularly from the Asian, Mexican and European markets, Hunter said.

“We will probably begin to see promise in international flights by summer, hopefully sooner,” he said.

A good bellwether of international flights returning is airlines such as Taca and Aero Mexico operating charter flights out of Armstrong.

“Last year we didn’t see either,” Hunter said. “They’re testing the market.”

Hunter expects LANOIA will return to pre-Katrina passenger levels by late 2008.

“We’ll see the numbers climb between now and summer, flatline in the summer and pick back up in the fall,” Hunter said. “We’re focusing and planning for beyond Katrina numbers, which is a good thing for us.”

Credit: Jaime Guillet

(Copyright 2007 Dolan Media Newswires)

(c) 2007 New Orleans CityBusiness. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.