Boardings at the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport increased 6 percent in the first quarter of 2011, according to statistics released by the Airport Authority.
In the first three months of 2010, about 63,000 passengers boarded planes from Chattanooga, while more than 67,000 have climbed aboard in 2011 so far.
London-based Air4Casts predicted a 2.7 percent increase in enplanements across the U.S., leaving Chattanooga at double the national average, said Christina Siebold, director of marketing and communications for the airport.
Mike Landguth, president and CEO of the Airport Authority, credited the improving local economy and increased interest in the airport’s second Detroit and new Destin, Fla., routes with the uptick in passengers for the year.
“I think a lot of it hinges on the economic growth in our community,” he said. “We do like the metrics in our community, from an economic standpoint.”