03-31-2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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February Airport Stats Continue to Reflect Difficult Industry Conditions

COLUMBUS – Slowing national and international economies continue to impact Port Columbus International Airport and Rickenbacker International Airport, both of which reported a decline in activity for the month of February.

Statistics released at today’s meeting of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority Board of Directors show that in February Port Columbus had a 24.4 percent drop in passengers compared to the previous year. A total of 433,938 passengers traveled through Port Columbus in February as compared to 574,006 in February 2008. Year-to-date 863,163 passengers have used Port Columbus, down 25.8 percent from 2008.

“This considerable decrease in passenger traffic is primarily attributable to Skybus Airlines, which handled over 99,000 passengers in February 2008 and later ceased operations,” explained David Whitaker, Vice President of Business Development & Communications. “By removing Skybus passengers from the monthly statistics, Port Columbus passenger traffic would be down about 9 percent year-over-year.”

Port Columbus provides 151 daily departures to 33 airports in addition to a weekly Cancun flight. The 11 air carriers at Port Columbus include Apple Vacations, Air Canada Jazz, AirTran, American, Continental, Delta, Midwest Connect, Northwest, Southwest, United, US Airways and the regional affiliates associated with many of these major airlines.

At Rickenbacker International Airport over 12.3 million pounds of cargo moved through the airport in February, which equates to a 21 percent drop compared to February 2008. Year-to-date cargo numbers reflect the movement of nearly 33 million pounds, which is down 23 percent from the previous year. Rickenbacker is a multi-modal cargo airport that features an impressive network of freight forwarders and cargo airlines such as FedEx, UPS, Evergreen International, Kalitta and Atlas as well as a U.S. Foreign-Trade Zone. In addition to the airport’s cargo service, the Rickenbacker Charter Terminal will soon welcome Direct Air with twice weekly passenger service to Myrtle Beach beginning on May 20.

For additional information, visit www.ColumbusAirports.com or contact Angie Tabor, Manager of Communications, at (614) 239-4081.

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