A second month of passenger traffic increase at Reno airport

RENO -- Officials at the Reno airport are optimistic that years of declines in passenger numbers are behind them following a second straight month of increases.

The number of people using the airport increased 3.3 percent last month, compared with January of 2002.

The increase is a turnaround from the 8.6 percent drop in local air traffic last year.

"It looks like we have bottomed out," airport spokesman Adam Mayberry told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "We can only go up from here."

Officials are crediting ski traffic in January for the increase.

"With good snow and good air service from ski markets, people are really starting to think of Reno as a ski destination, rather than where you fly into to drive to Lake Tahoe," said Ferenc Szony, president and chief executive of the Sands Regency Casino & Hotel.

Airport Executive Director Krys T. Bart said increasing air traffic is difficult, given the national economy and threat of war.

The airport lost less traffic than the national average of 18 percent last year, but the current 74 daily departures is down from a high of 127 in August 1997.

Before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the airport had 83 daily departures.

In May, United Airlines will replace two 737 flights to San Francisco with four regional jet flights. The 737s have 108 seats, compared with 50 on the regional jets.

The 16 fewer seats available each day will be offset by the added flights, Bart said.

"It is very good to increase your frequency," Bart said. "It adds convenience."

The increases in air traffic pleases the ski resorts.

"It is really nice to see the airport pulling out of a tough time," said Katja Dahl, spokeswoman for Squaw Valley Ski Corp. "Hopefully we will be able to push that ahead and get more flights added. Without air service it is hard to be an international destination."

Dahl said the resort is having an average year.

"We did benefit from great snow to start the year off," she said. "We had 12 feet of snow and a lot of other destinations didn't."

It was the best January on record for skier visits at Northstar-at-Tahoe, said spokesman Toby Baird, adding that most of the resorts business comes from the Bay area.

"We are not as much of a destination resort, but over a busy weekend we see people from all over," he said.