Airport Passenger Numbers Flatten, International Cargo Drops to Nothing

Nashville International Airport is seeing improvement in passenger numbers while cargo has fallen off substantially. The airport released figures for August at its monthly board meeting Wednesday.

August is the first full month the airport has been completely without China Air. The carrier’s cargo operation pulled out of the market over the summer because of weak demand from Taiwan.

Airport chief of operations Monty Burgess says international cargo for the month of August dropped nearly 100% to zero. The loss of those landing fees, he says, means rent may go up for passenger carriers.

“Regular airlines, our signatory carriers, ultimately at the years end will make up any shortfall we have as it relates to that.”

And Burgess says the airport wants to keep fees low to entice carriers to stick around.

Passenger figures are seeing some improvement. They’re down just 2-percent from the same month last year. Burgess says he expects September could actually see an improvement. The primary reason, he says, is that Southwest is routing more flights through Nashville to pick up additional passengers and fill their planes.

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