All Things Travel: A Record Year For Logan Airport
BOSTON (CBS) – On the last day of January, Massport announced an important first for Logan International Airport. A record 30 million passengers flew in and out of the regional airport.
The actual number was 30,218,631, an increase of 3.4-percent over 2012.
This year promises to be even better with 1.5 million more passengers. This averages out to about 87,000 people a day coming and going at Logan. That number would fill Fenway Park more than twice.
There are a number of major changes and new destinations for Logan Airport. Three new international carriers will begin service, which include Emirates to Dubai, Turkish Airlines and Hainan Airlines to China.
In the late spring, United Airlines will consolidate its Logan operations in a new section of Terminal B. That terminal will also be home to the new American Airlines formed with the merger with U.S. Airways. New security lanes are being added to handle more passengers.
The TSA Pre-check program, where passengers sign-up for pre-security clearance and a fast lane through security has a goal of having 50-percent of flyers enrolled by the end of this year.
Planes are averaging over 80-percent of their seats occupied on Boston flights. Total Logan Airport flight operations average over 31,000 per month.
JetBlue continues to add new destinations and is Boston's number one carrier, Next month they will start flights to Detroit which is a strong business market.
JetBlue CEO Dave Barger will be in Boston next Monday for a media event to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the airline at Logan. JetBlue ranks number one at Logan carrying over 25-percent of passengers using the airport.
Southwest Airlines, through their merger with AirTran, will begin international flights for the first time on July 1. Baltimore Washington International Airport will be the major connecting point for service to Aruba and Jamaica.
Delta Airlines is also adding new flights and has a strong new alliance with Virgin Atlantic Airlines through flights coming into Logan Airport.
Year-end figures for Hanscom Field and Worcester, the other two airports operated by Massport, were not available.
Bob Weiss reports on business travel on Mondays at 5:55 a.m. on WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
