T.F. Green passenger traffic in January lowest in 18 years

PASSENGER TRAFFIC at T.F. Green Airport fell 4.8 percent in January compared with the same month the year before. A total of 239,812 passengers departed from or landed at T.F. Green in January, the fewest since January 1996. / COURTESY R.I. AIRPORT CORPORATION
PASSENGER TRAFFIC at T.F. Green Airport fell 4.8 percent in January compared with the same month the year before. A total of 239,812 passengers departed from or landed at T.F. Green in January, the fewest since January 1996. / COURTESY R.I. AIRPORT CORPORATION

(Updated, 1:58 p.m.)

WARWICK – Passenger traffic at T.F. Green Airport fell 4.8 percent in January compared with the same period last year, dropping from 251,791 total passengers in January 2013 to 239,812 last month, the fewest in 18 years according to numbers released by the R.I. Airport Corporation Friday.

The January figure represented the first drop in total passengers at T.F. Green since February 2013, and was lower than any monthly passenger number recorded since January 1996, when there were 147,829 total passengers.

“We fully anticipated passenger traffic to be lower in January following the busy December holiday season, as a result of fewer available seats and less passenger demand,” said Kelly Fredericks, president and CEO of the R.I. Airport Corporation, in a statement. “That reduction in available seats, coupled with the higher number of weather cancellations, all contributed to the reduction in passenger numbers.”

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Despite the decline in passenger traffic, T.F. Green saw a year-over-year increase in total cargo enplaned and deplaned. In January, the airport transported roughly 2.1 million pounds of cargo, a gain of 10.5 percent compared with 1.9 million pounds in January 2013.

The five airlines with the greatest share of T.F. Green’s passenger traffic in January were Southwest Airlines, at 43.2 percent; US Airways, at 28.3 percent; Delta Airlines, at 10.9 percent; JetBlue Airways, at 8.5 percent; and United Airlines, at 8.4 percent.

Among them, Delta and US Airways were the only major airlines to register a year-over-year increase in passengers in January. Delta made the strongest showing, with a 41.7 percent increase to 13,999 total passengers, while US Airways rose 8.1 percent to 38,624 passengers. Southwest dropped 9.5 percent to 103,668 passengers and JetBlue dropped 12 percent to 20,369 passengers.

United Airlines transported 439 passengers in January, down 93 percent compared with 6,245 passengers a year earlier.

In the month of January, 4,030 aircraft departed from or landed at T.F. Green Airport.

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