Passenger traffic continues upward trend at Lynchburg airport

By Bryan Gentry

Published: October 15, 2008

Passenger traffic is continuing to shoot upward at the Lynchburg Regional Airport in response to lower fares.

In September, 5,314 passengers flew out of Lynchburg, a 36 percent increase from September 2007 traffic, and a 10 percent increase from August 2008.

“There’s no doubt people are really taking advantage of the lower fares,” said Mark Courtney, airport director.

For much of 2008, passenger traffic fell below 2007 traffic levels. Delta and U.S. Airways responded at the end of July by changing their fare structures at the Lynchburg airport to decrease base fares by nearly 60 percent.

The lower prices started taking effect in August, when passenger traffic was up about 7 percent over August 2007.

Traffic picked up more in September because more people heard about the fares. “We’ve been promoting and advertising it considerably to get the word around,” Courtney said.

Business at the airport during the first two weeks of October indicate that this month’s traffic should be up as well, Courtney said. Advance bookings also are up, he said.

Courtney said air fares are market-driven, so “the airlines do not make any promises as to how long” fares will stay low.

But the new fare structure has increased traffic enough that Courtney thinks the flights are more profitable.

The airlines also are getting some relief because fuel prices have come down, along with the price of oil and retail gasoline.

“If fuel prices stay down (and) they get more relief in terms of their fuel costs,” he said, “you’ll see a market like ours continue to be profitable, and to operate at higher profit levels.”