SGF passengers up 6.4% in April

Springfield-Branson National Airport reported 58,681 total passengers during April, a 6.4 percent increase compared to 55,168 passengers in April 2011.

Of the April 2012 figure, 29,427 were enplanements, and 29,254 were deplanements. American Eagle had the highest number of passengers, with 9,774 enplanements and 9,835 deplanements, according to SGF data provided yesterday.

For the first four months of the year, the airport has seen  229,575 passengers, a 9.1 percent increase from 210,477 passengers in the same time period in 2011.

SGF officials are calling the figures a good sign, as last year, the airport's passenger counts were down 8.1 percent through April compared to 2010.

According to the SGF blog, the increases were due largely to more seats on airlines flying in and out of the airport, which officials attributed to higher fuel prices and the continued after-effects of the recession in previous years.

"The capacity cuts now appear to be over with," the blog post reads. "The economy has improved somewhat, particularly here in southwest Missouri.

"There’s an old rule of thumb in the airline industry - more employment means more people flying."

Airlines had 36,271 seats available in April, compared to 37,654 in April 2011. However, for the first four months of the year, seats available totaled 147,481, compared to 146,992 in the same period of 2011, according to SGF data.