Bob Hope Airport sees more passenger traffic
The number of passengers making their way through Bob Hope Airport in January climbed 3% from the same time a year ago, marking the second straight month of increases following a six-month string of declines, according to the latest passenger report.
The airfield handled 302,389 travelers during the first month of 2014, up from 293,644 during January 2013, according to a report released Monday to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.
“We finally got a halfway decent report after all these months,” said authority Commissioner Don Brown. “Let’s hope it continues.”
Airport Executive Director Dan Feger said the improvement from last year may be partially influenced by ongoing cost-cutting efforts by airlines in 2013, which included reducing the number of flights going in and out of Burbank.
The report states that while the number of passengers rose in January by 3%, the number of available seats declined by 6.8% across all airlines.
“We hope this strategy is working that the carriers are trying to fly full airplanes,” Feger said. “[Airlines] make no money flying empty seats across the country. It’s our hope this will continue to show this trend of increasing passengers with a reduced number of flight operations.”
Parking revenue totaled $1.48 million in January, an increase from $1.37 million generated during January 2013, according to the report.
It’s the second consecutive month of a nearly 12% hike in parking revenues. The improvement is due to the fact that after two years, the airport stopped setting aside $1 from each parking transaction to reimburse itself following a 2011 settlement with Lockheed Martin Corp., said airport spokesman Victor Gill.
Most regional airports also reported a boost in passengers for January. At Los Angeles International Airport, the number of travelers grew by 7.2% compared to January 2013, while Ontario International Airport saw a 2% uptick.
John Wayne Airport reported a 2.9% boost in passengers, while Long Beach Airport’s figures slid by 8.7%.
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Follow Arin Mikailian on Twitter: @ArinMikailian.
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