Bob Hope Airport may be recovering from loss of American Airlines

The rate at which parking revenues and the number of passengers fell at Burbank Bob Hope Airport eased up in April, an indication that the airfield may be rebounding from the loss of American Airlines earlier this year, officials reported this week.

The number of passengers dropped by about 4.7% in April, to 338,821 from 355,686 passengers during the same period last year, according to a report released Monday to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.

The April passenger rates are better than March, when the airfield reported a 6% year-to-year drop.

Considering American Airlines, which handled 7.5% of Bob Hope’s the airport’s total passengers, pulled out in February, the numbers are better than expected, said Dan Feger, the airport’s executive director.

“You’re starting to see some recovery,” he said.

Feger also said the airport is starting to see some former American passengers returning to the airfield and use other carriers to take one-stop flights to other destinations.

To date, about 1.31 million passengers have traveled through the airport since January, a 3.7% decline compared to the same period in 2011.

Parking revenues, meanwhile, slid by 3.1% in April compared to the same period last year, an improvement from the 8.6% year-to-year drop recorded in March. Parking revenues — which came in at $1.51 million in April — are a vital source of income for the airport, especially as it embarks upon constructing a $112.6-million transit center.

At other airports in the region, passenger counts were mixed in April. Ontario Airport saw a 7.9% plunge, while John Wayne Airport reported an increase of 0.7%. The number of passengers at Los Angeles International Airport climbed by 2.6%.

-- Mark Kellam, Times Community News

Twitter: @LAMarkKellam