Projo Biz Blog

By Paul Edward Parker
Journal Staff Writer

The average number of passengers using T.F. Green Airport each day in February fell 9 percent compared to a year ago, according to numbers compiled by the state's airport agency.

And February 2008 was down 2 percent from 2007, near the beginning of more than a year of monthly declines at the state's largest airport.

This February, a total of 310,771 passengers traveled through the airport. That's a drop of 43,325 -- or 12 percent -- from February 2008 passenger levels.

When average daily numbers are examined, which accounts for the extra day February had in 2008 because of Leap Year, 11,099 used the airport this year, compared to 12,210 in 2008.

The biggest drag in terms of total numbers came from Southwest Airlines, which accounts for 55 percent of the passengers who use Green. Southwest was down about 568 passengers a day -- 22,537 for the month. That's a daily drop of 9 percent.

On the plus side, United Airlines and its affiliated carriers posted an average daily gain of 12 percent, from 777 last year to 869 this year.
But, with 24,339 passengers, or 8 percent of the airport's total, the passengers United carried barely covered Southwest's losses.

 Tags  Green Airport passengers Southwest Airlines United Airlines Warwick

---