Passenger numbers at the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport continued to climb in November, with double-digit increases, both for the month and the year to date.
Enplanements — the number of passengers departing Savannah —were up 21.2 percent in November and 17.1 percent for the first 11 months of 2014.
Deplanements — the number of passengers arriving in Savannah – grew 15.6 percent in November and 16 percent year to date.
Total enplanements so far in 2014 were 891,244, while deplanements were 881,299 for a total of 1.8 million passengers.
Delta, as usual, accounted for the lion’s share of passengers — 842,155 so far this year and 77,589 last month. American was next with 492,058 fliers so far and 42,256 in November. United Airlines accounted for 248,008 passengers through last month, including 21,964 in November.
JetBlue, which began service from Savannah to New York and Boston in February, had flown 188,789 passengers through November, 19,576 of them last month.
Factors likely contributing to the growing numbers include an improving economy, lower airfares out of Savannah and the presence of JetBlue, said Lori Lynah, director of marketing and air service development for the airport.
Airlines serving Savannah/Hilton Head also have added available seats this year, and load factors — the percentage of available passenger capacity that’s used — continue to
trend respectably in the 80s, with JetBlue at 90 percent.
“While air travel is up generally across the country, our growth is significantly higher primarily as a result of JetBlue bringing lower fares and 400 more available seats per day,” said airport executive director Greg Kelly.
“Delta has added another 150 seats per day on top of that. This represents an almost 17 percent increase in average daily seats available for 2014 over 2013.”
Most of those seats are filled on a daily basis, which is why the airport is seeing a 16 percent increase in passengers this year, Kelly said.
“Certainly the airlines are seeing this and taking notice, which is why we are confident we will see more growth in 2015.”
BY THE NUMBERS
PASSENGERS AT SAVANNAH/HILTON HEAD INTERNATIONAL
Nov. 2013 Nov. 2014 Change
Arriving 67,611 78,159 Up 15.6 percent
Departing 68,589 83,168 Up 21.3 percent
YTD 2013 YTD 2014 Change
Arriving 759,815 881,299 Up 16 percent
Departing 760,988 891,244 Up 17.1 percent
