Airport's growth soaring, report says

TIA is the third-fastest-growing airport in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

By JEAN HELLER

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 14, 2000

TAMPA -- The number of airline passengers who used Tampa International Airport shot up by nearly 40 percent in the last five years of the 20th century -- and the cost of their tickets dropped significantly.

The spurt made the airport the third-fastest-growing in the nation, behind only Washington Dulles and Baltimore-Washington International airports.

And one spot ahead of rival Orlando International Airport.

"Yes, isn't that nice?" said Louis Miller, executive director of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority.

U.S. Department of Transportation figures released Tuesday showed that growth at TIA from January 1995 to December 1999 reached 39.9 percent, more than twice the national average of 16.1 percent. The number of arriving and departing passengers went from about 9.3-million to more than 13-million.

Although a strong national economy is partially responsible for positive growth numbers at 27 of the top 30 airports, the advent of low-cost airline service is key to the numbers at Tampa International.

"It began when Southwest opened here in January 1996, with 12 flights daily and grew to 45 flights today," Miller said. "In response to Southwest, US Airways created MetroJet and came here, Delta created Delta Express and came here, AirTran has been growing, JetBlue came here and Spirit came here. That's a lot of low-fare service. There's your growth."

The three airports on the list of 30 that lost passenger traffic between 1995 and 1999 were Honolulu, Miami and Washington's Reagan National.

At the same time TIA passenger numbers were up, the airlines' revenue per passenger mile at Tampa dropped by 10.1 percent.

"As far as the consumer is concerned, lower yields are better because it means air fares are lower," Miller said. "Again, the pressure brought by Southwest."

Last year, airline revenue in and out of TIA averaged 11.8 cents per passenger mile. In Orlando, yields were lower, at 10.8 cents.

"The fact that Tampa yields were a little higher reflects that 38 percent of our travelers are business people, who pay more than leisure travelers," Miller said. "Orlando's business traffic is down around 20 to 25 percent. It's more of a resort destination than we are. We have the best of both worlds."

David Plavin, president of the Airports Council International in Washington, D.C., said that in a strong economy, airports such as Tampa have an advantage over hub airports, at which one dominant airline flies passengers in to connect with outbound flights for other destinations.

"A hub airport's growth or lack of growth depends on the corporate decisions of a single carrier," Plavin said. "Growth at a non-hub airport like Tampa-St. Petersburg is much more significant. In a good economy, competition brings growth and the airport isn't vulnerable to the whims of a single airline's corporate decisions."

Where a non-hub airport is vulnerable, Plavin added, is in a bad economy.

"Since Tampa-St. Petersburg tends to be a low-yield market, like most Florida cities, it can be hurt by an economic downturn," he said. "If people don't have enough discretionary income to take a vacation this year, your market is in jeopardy.

"But your economy has diversified down there. People don't just come for the sun any more. That spreads the risk. If one segment turns bad, it doesn't mean the rest will."

The DOT study counted only those passengers who were beginning or ending their trips at the 30 airports. Connecting passengers were not included. Because TIA is an origination and destination airport and not a hub, it has much less connecting traffic than, for example, Atlanta or Dallas-Fort Worth.

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