Lambert Shows Continued Strong Growth in Passenger Traffic through 2nd Quarter

Total Passengers up 9.3 Percent in First Six Months of 2016

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (STL) continues to show strong growth in passenger traffic for 2016 with total passenger activity up 9.3 percent through the 2nd quarter. In the first six months of this year, 6.7 million passengers traveled through STL versus 6.2 million in 2015. In the just-released statistics for June, Lambert saw a 10.5 percent growth in total passengers for the month (1,290,938 vs 1,168,364 in June 2015). STL has seen passenger increases of seven percent or more in every month of 2016. February showed the biggest gain in traffic (vs Feb. 2015) with 15 percent growth in total passengers.

In other reporting categories, Lambert has seen a 2.7 percent growth in passenger aircraft departures and a one percent increase in cargo aircraft departures through the 2nd quarter of 2016. Overall aircraft operations (takeoffs and landings- all aircraft types) in the first six months is up three percent - 93,627 vs 91,026 in 2015.

"Just about every airline at Lambert has contributed to this growth through the addition of new non-stop destinations or adding bigger aircraft -which means more seats-to existing markets," said Lambert Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge. "The new flights should continue the momentum of year-over-year growth through the remainder of 2016."

Since the summer of 2015, STL has added or resumed service to 11 non-stop destinations beginning with Austin, TX (AUS) on Southwest Airlines; Jackson, TN (MKL) on Air Choice One and Portland, OR (PDX) on Alaska Airlines. In November, new service started to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA (SNA) on Southwest. Seven of those markets have been added since January on Southwest Airlines: Little Rock, AR (LIT); Pittsburgh, PA (PIT); Des Moines, IA (DSM); Wichita, KS (ICT); Oakland, CA (OAK); and Cleveland, OH (CLE).

During this peak summer travel season, Lambert airlines are operating 254 daily departures to 68 non-stop destinations.