5.3 million fliers served in 2007

By Sharon Linstedt
NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER
Updated: 01/24/08 10:19 AM

The Buffalo Niagara International Airport had another record-breaking year in 2007, with the passenger count soaring to 5.3 million fliers.

"That’s not bad considering a decade ago we estimated we’d hit the 5 million mark in 2020," said Gregory Stamm, chairman of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.

The 2007 passenger totals, released by the NFTA Wednesday, are nearly 5.4 percent above the 2006 count which saw the airport welcome its 5 millionth passenger during the Christmas travel period.

The final 2007 passenger tally was 5,335,394, up from 5,063,884 in the prior year.

"And it’s only going to get better as we look ahead," Stamm said, citing the growing number of nonstop flights to prime destinations at competitive prices.

Low-cost airlines Southwest, JetBlue and AirTran have all recently announced new direct routes to such popular travel spots as Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Fla., as well as to Las Vegas and Chicago.

"Our airport is absolutely in the right place at the right time as the airline industry changes its routes to be more efficient and fly full planes," Stamm said. "We’re now a destination airport not only for Niagara Frontier residents, but also from Rochester, Toronto and Northeastern Pennsylvania." The NFTA now forecasts handling 6 million passengers by 2010 or 2011.

To handle the continued growth, the NFTA is taking steps on several fronts to expand capacity at the 10-year-old terminal.

A new $67 million baggage handling system, housed on the ground floor of a new 50,000- square-foot structure integrated into the existing terminal, will be operational this fall. In addition to giving the airport a battery of new high-tech baggage screening gear, the new system will speed up the movement of luggage.

The upper level of new building will create new space for the airport’s security checkpoint, increasing the number of screening lanes, and moving the bulk of the screening queue out of the ticket hall’s main corridor. The relocation of the checkpoint will also necessitate reconfiguration of some concessions now in front of the checkpoint. A final price tag for the screening area changes has yet to be determined.

The NFTA is also embarking on a new parking master plan that is expected to address longrange capacity solutions, including on-airport ramp construction and acquisition of offsite space to park more cars.

"We’re having a few growing pains, but they are good growing pains. We’re very fortunate the visionaries behind the terminal embraced a design that gave us an adjustable framework," Stamm said.

Despite the recent growth spurt — up nearly 50 percent from 2.9 million passengers per year when the terminal de- buted in 1997 — the NFTA has determined there is no immediate need to add gates to the existing 22-gate facility.

In December, the latest month for which passenger numbers and airline load data is available, the Buffalo airport handled 201,446 enplanements, up from 200,469 in December 2006. Southwest Airlines continued as the airport’s No. 1 carrier, with 23 percent of all passengers. JetBlue and US Airways tied for the No. 2 slot, each with 19 percent of fliers.

slinstedt@buffnews.com