Chattanooga: Airport Boardings Largely Steady
Posted on: Tuesday, 20 May 2008, 12:00 CDT
By Mike Pare, Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Tenn.
May 20--Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport boardings fell less than 1 percent in April from a year ago amid a weakening economy and high fuel prices pressuring both travelers and airlines.
Boardings dipped slightly to 24,260 passengers, the first monthly drop at the airport since August 2006.
While Allegiant Air boardings were up 40 percent in the month, bolstered by its Florida nonstops, that wasn't enough to overcome drops from Continental, American Eagle and others, the airport reported.
Mike Landguth, Airport Authority president, said airlines have had to hike ticket prices in the wake of higher fuel expenses.
"They have few avenues to reduce costs," he said.
But airport officials Monday agreed to a new budget that keeps landing fees and terminal rents for the airlines unchanged from last year.
Panel member William Kilbride said airport officials know they have to remain competitive in terms of airline costs to support low-fare carriers such as Allegiant.
"That will be noticed," he said.
Dan Jacobson, the Authority's chairman, said it is valuable for the airport to keep costs low.
"There are cost pressures on the airlines," he said. "These are challenging times."
Authority member Jim Hall said if Lovell Field sees a blip in passenger boardings, the airport should get aggressive in marketing the facility.
Airport officials said the new budget calls for revenues of $7.3 million, up 14 percent over the 2008 fiscal year that ends June 30. Some of the increase is to come in added payments from rental car companies, according to the airport.
Expenses are slated to come in about 7 percent higher than the current year, officials said.
Mr. Landguth said there is no increase in parking rates budgeted for next year. The budget include a 5 percent increase in the security fee for the airlines for a total of $14,000.
The budget also has capital investments of $12.3 million with the airport's portion of the funding at $1.1 million, officials said.
-----
To see more of the Chattanooga Times/Free Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.timesfreepress.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Tenn.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Source: Chattanooga Times/Free Press
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds