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Fair Fares Effort Continues Attracting Passengers
Date: December 12, 2002
Contact: Mike Taylor, Government Relations Director
 : MTaylor@wichita.gov
 : (316) 268-4351
Highly competitive, affordable air fares driven by AirTran Airways and Frontier JetExpress are continuing to attract cost-conscious travelers to Wichita Mid-Continent Airport.
113,336 passengers used Wichita Mid-Continent Airport in November 2002. That’s a 35.9% increase in passenger traffic over November 2001. Wichita Mid-Continent Airport continues to show double digit gains in year to year passenger count comparisons, while most airports across the country are showing decreases.
Passenger traffic for the first 11 months of 2002 has already exceeded the total number of passengers who used Mid-Continent Airport in all of 2001. More than 1.2-million passengers have already flown in and out of Mid-Continent this year, compared to more than 1.1-million in 2001. All of that growth has come since May when AirTran Airways entered the market. The other discount airline, Frontier JetExpress, started flying at Mid-Continent in September.
| WICHITA MID-CONTINENT AIRPORT PASSENGER NUMBERS |
|
2000 |
2001 |
Change |
| September |
97,913 |
61,406 |
(37.29%) |
| October |
108,742 |
81,783 |
(24.79%) |
| November |
106,584 |
83,378 |
(21.77%) |
| December |
100,621 |
86,698 |
(13.84% |
| Year to Date |
1,227,083 |
1,129,381 |
(7.96%) |
|
2001 |
2002 |
Change |
| January |
87,194 |
73,766 |
(15.40%) |
| February |
81,838 |
74,683 |
(8.74%) |
| March |
107,069 |
96,747 |
(9.64%) |
| April |
94,875 |
88,930 |
(6.27%) |
| May |
112,788 |
122,598 |
8.70% |
| June |
112,015 |
129,962 |
16.02% |
| July |
111,076 |
139,064 |
25.20% |
| August |
109,261 |
132,074 |
20.88% |
| September |
61,406 |
108,715 |
77.04% |
| October |
81,783 |
122,305 |
49.55% |
| November |
83,378 |
113,336 |
35.93% |
Holiday travel at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport is expected to continue to be strong as airlines offer competitive Christmas time fares. For example, roundtrip fare to Chicago on AirTran is only $68. AirTran is also offering a $118 roundtrip fare to Atlanta and a $158 roundtrip fare to New York City and several other east coast cities. To take advantage of the AirTran sale, tickets must be purchased by December 17 and flights taken by March 12, 2003.
Frontier JetExpress is offering a $99 roundtrip fare to Denver. To check other airline specials and fares, as well as information about Mid-Continent Airport and flight information, go to http://www.ditchthedrive.com/ and www.flywichita.com, or call your travel agent.
Security Procedures More Convenient
Parking in Wichita Mid-Continent Airport’s short term parking has gotten easier as of this week. Vehicle inspections are no longer required on a regular, daily basis. Since September 11, 2001, the airport was required to inspect all vehicles parking within 300 feet of the terminal. Now, those inspections will only be required when the National Alert Status is at the orange or red level.
The Transportation Security Administration has also eased up on rescreening of passengers at the boarding gate. Prior to this week, additional random searches were done at every gate as passengers boarded their flight. Now, additional searches will not be done at every gate for every flight. This should lessen the chances of many passengers being searched a second time as they board their flight.
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