Columbia Metropolitan Airport continues to experience summer traffic growth
July 18, 2018
May and June passenger traffic at Columbia Metropolitan Airport saw a 9% increase over the same months last year. May and June saw passenger increases of 8,600 and 7,600 passengers, respectively. Over 101,000 passengers passed through CAE in May, with 97,000 passengers using the airport in June. These numbers continue the trend of steady growth the airport has experienced in 2018.
“It takes continuous investment from the airlines and the local community for airports to see such steady growth, and we’re fortunate and thankful to have both of those dynamics in our favor. People choosing to fly CAE only helps us make the case to airlines for more flight options. Growth tends to be a catalyst to more growth in this industry, so we’re beyond excited about the future of CAE,” said Mike Gula, Executive Director.
American Airlines introduced mainline jet service between Columbia and the airline’s Dallas/Ft. Worth hub in June. The twice-daily service previously flown with 76-seat regional jets, was upgraded to 140-seat American Airlines jets. Passengers can connect to over 200 destinations from the Dallas hub.
Delta Air Lines is also again increasing aircraft size on flights to Columbia. By Fall, the airline will
primarily be using 149-seat jets on flights between CAE and Atlanta, a substantial capacity increase over the 110-seat jets that currently operate most of these flights.
“The remarkable thing about the growth that we’ve seen in the first half of the year is that it’s
happened without new capacity. That’s the truest testament to our airfares being lower than they
were last year. With 3 rd Quarter capacity up 9% and 4 th quarter capacity up 20%, things should be booming for the rest of the year. There are 53,000 more seats for sale from CAE in 2018 than there were in 2017 and that’s 53,000 more opportunities for people to fly with ease,” said Anthony Gilmer, Director of Air Service & Marketing.
About Columbia Metropolitan Airport
Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) is the premier air travel provider for South Carolina’s
Midlands region. The airport offers more than 60 daily non-stop flights to & from 9 major airports nationwide on American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines and is a regional cargo hub for UPS Airlines. CAE is a self-sufficient entity and does not receive any state or local tax dollars.
Visit us online at www.flyCAE.com or on Facebook at Facebook.com/flycae.
