Editor’s note: This story is a component of The Compass Report. The quarterly Compass Report is managed by The City Wire, and sponsored by Arvest Bank. Supporting sponsors of The Compass Report are Cox Communications and the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Activity at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) and the Fort Smith Regional Airport continued the gains posted in 2014, with January enplanements up at the two commercial airports.
XNA had 44,431 enplanements in January, up 6.85% compared to January 2014. The enplanement level also set a new record for January traffic at the airport. The previous record was 42,088 in January 2011.
The airport is served by five airlines that provide connections to 10 U.S. cities.
XNA ended 2014 with 640,537 enplanements, up 10.15% over 2013, and more than the record of 598,886 enplanements in 2007. The 2014 gain also marked the third consecutive year of increased traffic at the airport. XNA’s first full year of traffic was 1999, and the airport posted eight consecutive years of enplanement gains before seeing a decline in 2008.
January enplanements at Fort Smith totaled 6,920, up 1.43% over January 2014. The airport offers flights to Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth through Delta and American Airlines. American had 4,459 enplanements in January out of Fort Smith, or 64.4% of the total. The percentage is up from 60.1% in January 2014.
Enplanements at Fort Smith totaled 92,869 in 2014, up 9.87% compared to 2013. For all of 2013, enplanements at the airport totaled 84,520, down 2.46% compared to the same period in 2012.
The Bill & Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock was the only one of Arkansas’ largest commercial airports to not post an enplanement increase in 2014. Enplanements in 2014 totaled 1.038 million, down 4.32% compared to 2013. (The airport did not have January data available as of Feb. 16.)
Little Rock enplanements in 2013 totaled 1.085 million, down 5.45% compared to 2012. Enplanements in 2012 totaled 1.147 million, up 4.07% compared to 2011. The 2012 numbers ended five consecutive years of enplanement declines at Arkansas’ largest commercial field.
The most recent federal data – U.S. Department of Transportation – show 59.903 million enplanements in the top 100 U.S. airports between January and November 2014, up 3.24% compared to the same period in 2013.
ENPLANEMENT HISTORY (Fort Smith Regional Airport, since 2000)
2014: 92,869
2013: 84,520
2012: 86,653
2011: 86,234
2010: 86,129
2009: 78,432
2008: 87,030
2007: 99,127
2006: 94,717
2005: 102,607
2004: 92,928
2003: 90,493
2002: 87,944
2001: 95,419
2000: 104,182
ENPLANEMENT HISTORY (Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, since 2000)
2014: 640,537
2013: 581,487
2012: 565,045
2011: 562,747
2010: 570,625
2009: 540,918
2008: 571,845
2007: 598,886
2006: 586,320
2005: 583,940
2004: 511,714
2003: 448,228
2002: 400,063
2001: 374,122
2000: 367,157