Columbia Metropolitan Airport Marks Three Consecutive Years of Growth
January 12, 2015
COLUMBIA, SC – For the first time in a decade Columbia Metropolitan Airport has achieved three consecutive years of growth. Final 2014 statistics show that the airport’s enplanements grew 2.16% for a total of 513,769 and overall passenger counts were up 1.56% for a total 1,035,296.
The last time Columbia Metropolitan Airport saw three consecutive years of growth was in 2005 when Independence Air served the market. Since then, the airport has felt the impact of airline mergers, an economic recession and the decline of the once common 50 seat regional jet.
However, in recent years, leadership has worked to make the airport more efficient, more customer oriented and, most importantly, more fiscally sound with reduced debt and lower costs to the airlines.
Airport Director, Dan Mann, attributes this milestone to his team’s efforts to make CAE more competitive within the industry and to the community’s response to those efforts.
“Yes, we made changes to our business model but the true differentiator is the support we’ve gotten from the public.” he says.
“When folks as well respected as Ray Tanner, Lou Kennedy and Marcus Lattimore put their voice behind your message it shows that they believe in your product. And when the people take action by checking our fares first and making CAE their preferred choice for air travel it sends a loud and clear message that this community can, and will, do what it takes to prove to airlines that we can support more service.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2015, Mann says airport staff plans to build on this momentum and highlight CAE’s pattern of growth to the airlines as tangible evidence that robust air service to Columbia makes sense for their business strategies.
“The aviation industry can be volatile but airlines look at trends and the steady growth generated by this community shows that the people of the Midlands will stand behind their airport and that Columbia Metropolitan Airport is in an ideal position to be the first choice in our airlines’ expansion plans.”
Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE)
Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) is the premier air travel provider for South Carolina’s Midlands region. The airport offers over 30 daily non-stop flights to 9 destinations nationwide. CAE is a self-sufficient entity and does not receive any state or local tax dollars. Visit our website at www.columbiaairport.com or on Facebook at Facebook.com/flycae.
