Archive: News

Passenger totals for Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport (ITH) were up again in December, bringing the airport’s total passenger boardings for 2009 to the highest level in nearly two decades, and the third highest level in the airport’s history.

ITH's December enplaned passengers totaled 9,743, up 17.3% compared to December 2008, bringing the yearly total to 109,259. That total is the highest enplaned passenger total since 1990 (114,154).  In 1988, the airport had recorded 111,244 passengers.  Those were the only years that passenger totals exceeded last year’s total.

"The passenger boardings for 2009 are nothing short of spectacular,” Airport Manager Bob Nicholas points out.  “Now that we have US Airways, Delta and Continental competing for business in Ithaca, that competition has brought down airfares so they compare favorably with all the other airports in Central New York. When you add competitive airfares to our unparalleled convenience and customer service, you can see why local passengers are opting to use the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport."

For December, the airport’s overall load factor (the percentage of occupied seats on aircraft) stood at nearly 72% (71.7%), up by more than 10% from a year earlier.  December load factors by route were as follows:

• Philadelphia (PHL) - 76.3% (Up 2.7%)
• LaGuardia (LGA) - 45.0% (Up 6.2%)
• Detroit (DTW) - 86.7% (Up 6.0%)
• Newark (EWR) - 72.6% (Up 20.1%)

“The continued outstanding performance of our airport confirms that our aggressive, entrepreneurial air service development strategies are working,” says Tompkins County Area Development Executive Director Michael Stamm, who chairs the County’s Air Service Board. “The airport is a vital component of the local infrastructure that supports local employers and job creation efforts.”

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