Despite fighting the headwinds of a slow economy, Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport’s first-quarter boardings and revenue are up.
“We thought we’d have a flat year,” airport President Mike Landguth said. “It’s been quite good all things considered.”
Lovell Field passenger boardings in the July-September quarter are 7.9 percent higher compared with the same period a year ago, he said.
Revenues also are higher in the period, he said. Discounting a parking lot rate increase, revenues are 4 percent higher, Mr. Landguth said. With the rate hike, revenues are 7.9 percent higher, he said.
For the calendar year through September, traffic at the airport is 3.7 percent above a year ago. September was 8.2 percent ahead, according to the airport.
Mr. Landguth said he believes a lot of the increases are because of lower fares.
“We’re getting very competitive fares in the market,” he said.
Despite the results, Mr. Landguth said, it’s only the airport’s first quarter.
“We still have a ways to go,” he said. “We’re optimistic.”
The airport chief said plans are to communicate first-quarter results to the airlines to see if there are growth opportunities related to service.
He said Allegiant Air publicly has talked about expanding its service footprint, citing Mexico, New York, the Caribbean and Myrtle Beach, S.C.
“Wherever they wind up, the focus city will be something we’ll pursue,” Mr. Landguth said.
Tyri Squyres, Allegiant’s corporate communications director, said that Chattanooga-Las Vegas service, mentioned as a possibility in the past, is not on the airline’s immediate radar screen.
“It’s a long route,” she said. “It’s something we’d consider but I’m not sure how immediate it would be.”
Mike Pare, the deputy Business editor at the Chattanooga Times Free Press, has worked at the paper for 27 years. In addition to editing, Mike also writes Business stories and covers Volkswagen, economic development and manufacturing in Chattanooga and the surrounding area. In the past he also has covered higher education. Mike, a native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., received a bachelor’s degree in communications from Florida Atlantic University. he worked at the Rome News-Tribune before ...
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