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Traffic Update
October 2008

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The 4th Quarter of 2008 got off to a strong start for all three airport facilities within the Houston Airport System.

Despite uncertainty on the national economic scene, the year-to-date number of total passengers at William P. Hobby (HOU) has consistently represented an increase over the 2007 number. Meanwhile the traffic numbers at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) declined slightly (-2.0 percent year-to-date), primarily driven by capacity cuts made by major airlines in their winter schedules.

At HOU, a total of 719,631 passengers passed through the gates in the month of October. That brought the year-to-date total up to a level that was slightly below the seven-and-a-half million mark. October is not typically a heavy travel month at airports across the country, and yet the monthly numbers were still strong enough for William P. Hobby Airport to post a year-to-date increase of 0.8% over last year’s total.

Meanwhile at IAH, the big story continues to be the increase in the number of international travelers, growing by 3.7 percent year-to-date. So far in 2008, increases in this area have been posted in nine of the ten months recorded, with October representing yet another positive step above last year’s benchmark.

Traffic was particularly heavy in Central/South America, Europe and Canada. Traffic to these destinations increased 6.9 percent, 7.1 percent and 3.6 percent respectively for the month of October. Continental Airlines performed particularly well with the Central/South American region, posting an 8.6 percent increase over the numbers posted last October.

Another significant success story at IAH can be found in the numbers involving air freight. More than 75 million pounds of freight was moved through George Bush Intercontinental Airport during the month of October, an 0.8 percent increase over October 2007. That number represented the second highest monthly total at IAH, trailing only April for the busiest month of the year.

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The Houston Airport system served a record 52 million passengers in 2007.  It is the 4^th largest multi-airport system in the U.S. and the 6^th-largest in the world.  Bush Intercontinental is the nation’s 8^th-busiest airport.  According to J.D. Powers & Associates, William P. Hobby Airport is among the top-performing airports in the terms of customer satisfaction in the United States.  HAS annually contributes over $24 billion in positive economic impact to the Greater Houston region.  For more information watch Houston Airports Today every Saturday at 9:30 am on KTBU Channel 55 or visit www.fly2houston.com