JWA Counts a Record Number of Passengers

Bolstered by heavy travel over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, John Wayne Airport reached a record 8.5 million passengers in 2003, officials said Friday.

On Dec. 1 alone, the airport handled 31,518 passengers, most of them returning from their Thanksgiving holidays. It was the busiest day in the history of the airport, John Wayne officials say.

“Business is definitely good,” airport director Alan Murphy said. “Month after month, passenger levels have continued to increase over the same period last year. Some we have actually experienced double-digit increases.”

Airport statistics show that passenger volumes rose 8% from 7,903,066 in 2002 to 8,535,130 in 2003. December was the busiest month with 470,000 travelers, an 8.5% increase over December 2002.

Murphy said the airport was among the first in the nation to recover from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He attributed the record passenger numbers to the strength of the Orange County economy.

Airport officials said the steady growth in travelers stands in contrast to the bleak months following Sept. 11, when John Wayne faced a $10.4-million budget deficit and passenger declines of up to 30%.

To help close the resulting budget gap, the Orange County Board of Supervisors raised fees for parking, hangar space and tie-down areas for private aircraft.

“We have been rebounding in passenger levels since April 2002, when we reached our pre-9/11 numbers,” said Justin McCusker, an airport spokesman. “John Wayne Airport is well in the black and operating with a strong financial footing, only made stronger by the current passenger figures.”