Gainesville Sun - August 14, 2001

Passenger numbers declined slightly in July at Gainesville Regional Airport, but cargo business continued an upward trend during the month.

Overall, the airport handled 21,039 passengers in July, down 6.5 percent from 22,505 passengers in July 2000.

The airport's main carrier, Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA), experienced an 11 percent decline from July last year, but US Airways' passenger numbers were up more than 34 percent for the month.

"ASA has also pulled a flight out in recent months, so for a little while longer, we're going to be comparing apples and oranges with their numbers," said Marilyn Tubb, chair of the Gainesville/Alachua County Regional Airport Authority.

After a slow start, the airport's newest airline, Discover Air, also had increased numbers in July.

Since serving about 50 passengers in May when it debuted at the airport, Discover Air handled roughly 350 passengers in July, up from about 300 in June.

For the first half of 2001, the airport handled 150,116 passengers, a decline of 12.8 percent from 172,122 passengers in the first six months of 2000.

Cargo business has increased steadily throughout the year, thanks to the arrival of FedEx Express in January. The company's local airport operations include two Cessna cargo airplanes and 12 delivery vehicles. In July, the airport handled 94,843 pieces of cargo, an increase of 470 percent from 16,620 in July 2000.

For the first six months of the year, cargo totaled 635,174 at the airport, up 194 percent from 215,728 packages handled in the first half of 2000.

Joe Coombs can be reached at 338-3102 or joe.coombs@gainesvillesun.com.

See August 14, 2001, issue of Gainesville Sun for original article.