Tulsa International Flights Increase in 2005

By John Dobberstein

Passenger numbers for Tulsa International Airport grew in 2005 to the highest levels in four years, following a growing national trend toward busier airports.

About 3.2 million passengers were reported last year, including 1,563,708 departing passengers, 1,569,254 arriving passengers and 103,437 non-revenue passengers.

That’s good for a 10.4-percent increase in traffic over 2004, when the airport served about 2.9 million passengers. Passenger counts dropped to 2.7 million in 2003.

By contrast, more than 3.4 million passengers flew in and out of Tulsa International in 1998 and 2000.

Traffic at Tulsa International was also up last December with 260,160 passengers, a 5-percent increase over the same period in 2004.

However, the airport is continuing to see a decline in freight and cargo activity. Freight dropped in 2005 by 2.2 percent and cargo by 3.8 percent.

Air carrier, air taxi, civilian and military operations also fell in 2005 by 9.4 percent, although air carrier and air taxi operations and increased on their own.

Despite several attempts, officials at the Tulsa Airport Authority couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday, and they did not supply results for individual airlines.

In November, Tulsa airport officials said the increasing passenger count was a reflection of the improving local economy.

The numbers in Tulsa appear to reflect what has been going on nationally.

U.S. airlines carried 4.6 percent more domestic passengers during the first 10 months of 2005 than they did during the same period in 2004, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. In October, the FAA did note a drop-off nationally in passenger levels.

Through October, according to FAA data, Southwest, Delta, American and United were the top four airlines in boarding passengers, all with at least 50 million. Northwest was a distant fifth with 38 million passengers.

The busiest airports from January through October, based on departures, were Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta (31.3 million), O’Hare International in Chicago (26.1 million), Dallas- Fort Worth International (21.5 million), Los Angeles International (17.8 million) and McCarran International in Las Vegas (16.1 million).

John Dobberstein reports from The Journal Record’s Tulsa bureau.