Spokane Regional Business Barometer – Quarter 3, 2014
Passenger totals were up 1.1% year-to-year for the third quarter, with cargo up 1.2% for the same period.
“The airlines continue to exercise capacity discipline at small and medium sized airports, such as Spokane,” says Todd Woodard, director of marketing and public relations, Spokane International Airport. “Forward-looking schedules provided by the air carriers would suggest that we will receive modest gains in 2015.”
The increases in passenger and cargo volumes are “a sign that the economy here is strengthening at all levels,” according to Shaun O’L. Higgins, Managing Principal of The Oxalis Group LLC.
In November, Delta Airlines increased their schedule to five daily flights to Seattle, offering more options for consumers who previously relied almost entirely on Alaska/Horizon for flights between Spokane and Seattle. “Delta added these flights to facilitate connections with their Asian and European routes,” says Woodard.
Meanwhile, the airport continues to introduce new services for travelers. Beginning the week of Thanksgiving, cars parked in one of the two airport garages or in the adjacent parking lot are eligible for a free car wash in the recently installed touch-less car wash, located in the parking lot.
