WARWICK – Passenger traffic at T.F. Green Airport (PVD) rose in May for the fourth straight month, but continued to lag year-ago levels, according to the latest figures from the R.I. Airport Corporation. Freight and mail traffic fell last month, erasing their April gains.
For the first time this year, the airport exceeded its 2007 monthly average of 418,278 total passengers and 209,155 passengers boarded. But T.F. Green’s January through May passenger total of 1.93 million lagged the year-ago total by 1.6 percent, while the 969,861 passengers enplaned in the first five months of the year fell 1.1 percent short of the year-ago figure.
The total number of passengers passing through the T.F. Green rose 4.0 percent in May – to 429,003 passengers, from 412,471 the month before – after rising 4.8 percent in April. (READ MORE) Compared with the May 2007 total of 443,630, however, total passenger traffic fell 3.3 percent, accelerating from April’s 0.4-percent decline.
The total number of passengers boarding planes at the airport rose 2.7 percent last month – to 211,244 passengers, from 205,645 the month before – after rising 5.2 percent in April. Compared with the year-ago total of 217,210, however, the number of passengers enplaned at T.F. Green fell 2.75 percent in May, after rising 0.1 percent the month before.
To help the airport cope with rising costs and declining air travel, “I’ve set a goal here for T.F. Green that our cost per enplanement – which is the measurement that airlines use – be half of what Logan’s is,” Kevin A. Dillon, the new president and CEO of the R.I. Airport Corporation, told Providence Business News in a recent Newsmaker interview. “Logan is a little bit over $13 and we are a little over $9,” he added. (READ MORE)
Among passenger carriers, Southwest Airlines remained No. 1 at T.F. Green last month with 232,078 passengers and a 54.1-percent market share. US Airways remained No. 2 with 80,384 passengers, or 18.7 percent, followed by United Airlines with 32,656 passengers, or 7.6 percent.
Northwest Airlines – with 29,211 passengers through T.F. Green last month, or 6.8 percent of the airport’s May total – rose two places to No. 4, shooting past Delta Airlines, which had 23,766, or 5.5 percent; and Continental Airlines, with 22,659 passengers, or a 5.3-percent share. Next were American Eagle with 6,507, or 1.5 percent; Air Canada with 1,186, or 0.3 percent; and charter planes with 556 passengers, or 0.1 percent of the airport’s May total.
Total cargo shipments through T.F. Green last month rose 2.4 percent to 2.53 million pounds – from 2.47 million pounds the month before – after rising 0.5 percent in April. Compared with the May 2007 total of 3.84 million pounds, however, cargo traffic through the airport fell 34.14 percent.
Freight shipments rose 3.3 percent in May to 1.98 million pounds – from 1.92 million pounds the month before – after rising 3.2 percent in April. Compared with the year-ago total of 3.22 million pounds, however, freight shipments fell 38.4 percent.
Meanwhile, mail shipments through the airport fell 1.0 percent to 546,355 pounds – from 551,991 pounds the month before – after rising 3.7 percent in April. And compared with the May 2007 total of 622,187 pounds, mail shipments fell 12.2 percent.
Year-to-date cargo shipments fell 26.8 percent to 13.18 million pounds, from 17.99 million pounds in the first five months of 2007. Freight shipments led the decline, falling 31.3 percent to 10.3 million pounds, from 14.99 million pounds in the year-ago period. Mail shipments in the first five months of the year dipped 4.1 percent to 2.88 million pounds from 3.00 million pounds in the same period of 2007.
The R.I. Airport Corporation (RIAC) is a quasi-public organization, based at T.F. Green International Airport (PVD) in Warwick, that oversees Green and the state’s five general aviation airports. Additional information is available at www.pvdairport.com.
