July is best month in ‘09 at RIC

Even though it experienced a year-to-year decline in passenger traffic, July was nonetheless Richmond International Airport's best month so far in 2009.

Total passenger traffic was down 1.8 percent versus July a year ago, the Capitol Region Airport Commission said yesterday. RIC served 308,984 passengers last month, compared with 314,521 in July 2008.

"We'd still define that as a very healthy month at RIC," airport spokesman Troy Bell said. The last time Richmond International saw more than 300,000 passenger in a month was October 2008.

"Domestic [U.S. airline] traffic is estimated to have been down 2.2 percent for the month," Bell said, "so RIC is performing slightly better than average" for American airports.

The regional airport attributed the gradually rebounding passenger volume -- which hit a bottom in March with a 13.25 percent decline compared with March 2008 -- to the low fares that recession-pressed airlines have offered this summer.

"It's largely leisure travel that's leading the charge," Bell said. "The fares have just been too attractive to pass by."

Domestic air fares dropped 9.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009, the most recent period available, from the fourth quarter of 2008, the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics said. That was the biggest quarter-to-quarter drop on record.

The savings were even better at RIC. According to the bureau, Richmond had the third-largest decrease in average domestic fares among the top 100 airports in the U.S. during the year's first quarter, down 16.6 percent compared with the first quarter of 2008.

US Airways was RIC's market share leader for the month, with 24 percent of passenger traffic, followed by Delta Air Lines at 22.8 percent. American Airlines, AirTran Airways and JetBlue Airways rounded out the top five at RIC in July.

Four air carriers -- led by JetBlue, which was up 14.2 percent -- reported passenger traffic growth for the month at Richmond International.

Contact Peter Bacqué at (804) 649-6813 or .