Reversing trend, boardings increase at Albany airport

The Southwest Airlines ticket counter at Albany International Airport is pictured on February 20, 2014.

Passenger traffic at Albany International Airport increased 1.4 percent in 2014, reversing a trend of annual declines that occurred over most of the last decade, airport officials reported.

Total airplane boardings for the year were 1,231,385, according to airport officials. Southwest Airlines, which is the busiest airline at Albany, saw its boardings climb by 4.1 percent, to 525,585, airport officials said.

That more people were boarding plans at the Albany airport last year reverses what had been a long-term trend of fewer people boarding at Albany each year. Boardings peaked at 1.55 million people in 2005, and dropped further after the recession hit. Most recently, the number had fallen to 1.2 million people in 2013, so even small growth last year is viewed as good news.

“This points to an improved Capital Region economy with growth in both our business and leisure travel,” said Rev. Kenneth Doyle, chairman of the Albany County Airport Authority.

The airports in Syracuse and Rochester, which are used by a similar number of passengers each year, have also seen declining boarding numbers in recent years.

The official number counts only departing passengers on whom a ticket fee is collected, but a roughly equal number of people also disembark in Albany each year.

As the region’s only commercial airport, Albany is also believed to have seen some benefit as more high-tech businesses have come to the region. It is the 82nd busiest airport in the country, according to Federal Aviation Administration data.

The airport’s annual economic impact is about $475 million, according to a state Department of Transportation study done in 2010.

Airport officials are optimistic the upward trend will continue.

Another airline, JetBlue, is scheduled to start serving the airport later this year, and Southwest will be adding seasonal direct service to Denver this summer. Airport officials had wanted direct service to Denver for years, because it serves as a regional hub for reaching other locations in the West.

JetBlue initially will provide direct service to Florida. “We fully anticipate the arrival of JetBlue later this year will further stimulate air travel and benefit passengers by generating a new level of competition among our airlines,” Doyle said.

August was the busiest month at the airport last year, with 120,564 departures, followed by July, with 117,797. January was the slowest month, with 84,000 departures.

There are also capital improvements coming in 2015, airport officials said.

They said a new maintenance and repair hangar will be completed for CommutAir, which flies as United Express. The carrier’s maintenance work is being moved from Cleveland to Albany, with the creation of 63 jobs, with another 13 jobs likely to be created over time, for a total of 76 jobs.

Also during 2015, the airport plans to repave its 8,500-foot runway at a cost of roughly $3 million, create additional parking, redesign some of the facilities inside the terminal and add a new food concession on Concourse-C, where Southwest is based.

Albany International is today served by American Airlines, Cape Air, Delta, Southwest, US Airways and United.