BANGOR, Maine — The number of passengers using Bangor International Airport dropped 11.6 percent in 2008 from the previous year, marking the facility’s third consecutive year of declining numbers.
“We’re disappointed that we had fewer passengers, but there are many communities that have seen a decrease, both in passengers and airline capacity,” Airport Director Rebecca Hupp said Tuesday. “While we don’t like to see it, we know that this is a trend. We’ll just have to work harder to maintain the service we have.”
Delta Air Lines contributed the most to the statistics with a nearly 30 percent reduction from 2007 to 2008 in Bangor. But every other carrier that BIA offers reported modest — and in some cases substantial — gains.
Allegiant Air, for example, saw an increase of 75 percent in passenger usage of BIA, while Continental Airlines increased by 93 percent over 2007.
But because Delta holds the biggest share of BIA’s market — 30 percent — its poor showing brought the entire airport down.
“With what was going on with the economy, this was expected,” said Risteen Masters, the airport’s marketing director. “I actually think we came in better than we anticipated.”
Masters also said that even though the number of Delta passengers dropped, the airport has been pleased with their service.
Numbers at BIA have been dropping steadily since the beginning of 2006, when traffic was at a 10-year high.
On a positive note, the Bangor airport has a number of other revenue sources that other facilities of its size do not have, most notably a lease agreement with the Maine Air National Guard.
“The airport is funded solely through our revenue, so any decrease is not positive for our bottom line,” Hupp said. “There is opportunity for improvement and growth; it’s just a matter of finding the right carrier that can provide the service we need.”
BIA’s passenger numbers were not much different from airports across the country as people have begun flying less. However, officials at Portland International Jetport recently reported record passenger figures for 2008.
The number of passengers grew 6.8 percent to 115,786 in December, reversing three months of declines. The year-end figures were a record as well with 1.76 million passengers passing through the state’s busiest airport in 2008.
“They still have JetBlue,” Masters said, referring to the popular low-cost carrier that added Portland to its list of destinations within the last few years. “Adding service is always a numbers game, and it’s more so now than ever.”
Hupp explained that although Portland — as well as Manchester, N.H., and Boston — are competitors, their population bases are much larger than Bangor. However, Hupp said, “We still have passengers who want to travel through Bangor.”
Both Hupp and Masters were hopeful of a rebound in air travel but were realistic, too.
“I still think people will be cautious about traveling for a while,” Masters said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.