Syracuse airport passenger traffic jumped nearly 12 percent in 2019

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Passenger traffic at Syracuse Hancock International Airport rose 11.5 percent in 2019 compared to a year ago, “making it the busiest year in three decades, the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority (SRAA) announced Thursday.

This is the second year in a row that the airport has generated a double-digit traffic increase, the SRAA said. Hancock is benefitting from more flights, including nonstop routes, and having existing flights served by larger planes.

The Syracuse airport attracted 2,583,193 passengers in 2019, marking the busiest year since 1990, when the airport saw 2,638,036 total passengers, SRAA said.

A variety of factors have contributed to this “vigorous” growth, Jason Terreri, the airport’s executive director, said.

“Our airline partners have added more flights — such as new daily, nonstop service on United to Denver and Allegiant’s new year-round, nonstop service to Sarasota-Bradenton. However, an often-overlooked source of growth has been our legacy carriers electing to fly larger aircraft on existing routes,” Terreri said in a statement.

The activity has increased the supply of seats available at Hancock, but also helped bring lower fares to the airport, SRAA said. In an earlier study of U.S. Department of Transportation data, 2018 airfares at Hancock were ranked as the “second fastest falling in the nation,” the Syracuse airport said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com