WinterSports2002.com, Wednesday, April 03, 2002

Games don't help airport numbers

Passengers kept away from S.L. during February

By Zack Van Eyck
Deseret News staff writer

Passenger levels at Salt Lake City International Airport have been on the decline since 1997, and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks didn't help matters.

But neither did the 2002 Winter Games.

The Olympics did contribute some of the busiest days in airport history, but in the overall scheme of things, the Games did not provide much of a boost to the airport and the airlines that serve it.

The total number of passengers flying into and out of Salt Lake City International in February was 1.357 million — a 6.3 percent decline from February 2001.

But air traffic in general, throughout the United States, has tapered off in the past year due to a sluggish economy and the Sept. 11 attacks.

February's total also was down 5.3 percent from January of this year, the month before the Winter Games. But airport executive director Tim Campbell points out January had three more days than February.

Taken as a daily average, February's traffic was actually 4.9 percent higher than in January. That increase was certainly due to Olympic-related travel, considering airport officials' assessment that other kinds of trips — including business travel and winter tourism — were off quite a bit.

"Frankly, we expected February to be down just because it was the Olympic month and that's fairly common — Atlanta experienced that — when you have the Olympic Games," Campbell said.

"Although you have some very peak days connected with the Games themselves, your normal travel patterns are disrupted. The ski areas were reporting 20 or 25 percent below normal. Business travelers didn't come to Salt Lake City because of the Games."

Local Utah business people also traveled less because many of them were Games volunteers or wanted to stay home to see the Olympics, Campbell said.

Local traffic — passengers who begin or end their travel in Salt Lake City — accounted for the big drop in passengers from a year ago. The number of passengers who fly into the airport solely to connect with another flight actually increased in February, compared to the same month in 2001, by nearly 1 percent.

Despite the five-year trend in declining passenger totals, the airport is moving forward in designing a new airport terminal and gates, which are to be constructed by 2010. However, that date could be pushed back to 2011 because of the sluggish economy and upgraded security needs that must be taken into consideration, Campbell said.

"The new security requirements have caused us to go back and take another look at our plans, particularly the international terminal itself — how we can accommodate additional screening," Campbell said.

Campbell said outmoded infrastructure and future needs still mandate the reconstruction of the airport, which is expected to cost about $1.2 billion.

E-MAIL: zman@desnews.com

© 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company