A new flight to Destin, Florida, and larger planes to most of the eight nonstop destinations from Shreveport Regional Airport (SHV) helped make this summer at SHV the busiest since 2000.
The traditional summer travel season is May through August and this year 257,651 people traveled through SHV, which was an increase of 11% from last year’s passenger numbers. The new Destin nonstop flight was very popular with more than 7,500 passengers taking the flight in the four months it operated. There were also more than 9,400 passengers that used the nonstop flight between Orlando-Sanford Airport and SHV, which included a new, third weekly flight this year.
“We were excited that the new nonstop flight to Destin on Allegiant was so popular with the residents of the Ark-La-Tex this summer. With thousands of passengers using the new flight, it shows Allegiant and our other airlines that there is demand for additional routes from Shreveport Regional Airport,” said Stacy Kuba, Interim Director of Airports for the Shreveport Airport Authority.
August marks the 17th consecutive month of increased passenger activity. To date, 451,166 passengers have used Shreveport Regional Airport since January, which is 41,391 more passengers this year and an increase of 10% over the same time last year.
“Our passenger numbers this summer are rivaling those of nearly two decades ago and we are extremely thankful that residents of Shreveport-Bossier, and the entire
Ark-La-Tex, are flying from Shreveport,” said Waynette Ballengee, Chairman of the Shreveport Airport Authority Board of Directors. “We encourage everyone to continue to Fly Shreveport First and support their local airport.”
Shreveport Regional Airport is the commercial carrier airport in Shreveport and serves
residents in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas. Opened on July 6, 1952, the airport expanded in 1971 to its current building and expanded again in 1999, with an all new central terminal building. Shreveport is served by four airlines: Allegiant with nonstop service to Destin, Las Vegas and Orlando, American Airlines with nonstop service to Charlotte and Dallas, Delta Air Lines with nonstop service to Atlanta, and United Airlines with nonstop service to Houston and Denver.
