Business travelers and vacationers are expected to spur more growth at John Wayne Airport this year.
The airport is benefiting from a general uptick in the economy and in tourism,thanks in part to the weaker U.S. dollar.
While John Wayne isn’t an international airport, some foreign visitors,particularly from Europe and Asia,transfer from other airports to visit the Disneyland Resort, beaches and other tourist spots here.
Last year there were 43.6 million visitors to Orange County, up 2% versus a year earlier, according to the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau. Growth is expected to continue this year.
“We are on a steady incline as leisure, convention and meeting business picks up,” said Charles Ahlers, president of the convention bureau.
One catalyst for gains this year: Disneyland’s 50th anniversary celebration. The theme park is expected to draw more visitors as it pushes its anniversary in TV, magazine and online advertising.
Airport traffic already is posting solid gains. Through November, John Wayne Airport reported 8.5 million passengers, up 9% versus a year earlier. December results are expected to be released as early as this week.
The airport still has room for more passengers under a cap set with neighboring cities. The cap was raised from 8.4 million to 10.3 million at the start of 2003.
“It wasn’t until fall of 2003 that the airlines finally added new capacity to take advantage of the higher cap,” said John Wayne Airport spokesman Justin McCusker. “So that’s when we first started to see significant increases.”
The cap is set to rise to 10.8 million in 2011. So far, no new airlines or flights from existing airlines are expected this year, McCusker said.
He expects growth to be slightly slower in 2005 than it was last year.
Like other airports, John Wayne took a hit in 2001 with the recession and then the terrorist attacks. It’s seen passenger growth since then, matching 2000’s high in 2002.
“Airlines are putting people in their seats and people are buying tickets,” McCusker said. “OC still has a strong local economy and tourism base that people want to travel to and from.”
In June, the airport doubled the number of security checkpoint lanes from eight to 16, cutting the amount of time passengers spend getting to their gates.
“Before the expansion, passengers sometimes would have to wait up to 90 minutes to pass security, but now the wait time is 10 minutes during peak travel hours,” McCusker said.
Before the expansion, airport officials were advising travelers to arrive at the airport at least two hours before their flight time. Airport officials now tell passengers to allow for 90 minutes at the airport.
Actual times to clear security range from 10 minutes to about 40 minutes.
McCusker said there’s no real-time way for travelers to gauge what the wait is at any given time.
The Transportation Security Administration has a Web site that offers average wait times for John Wayne and other airports.
Air cargo also has been moving at John Wayne.
Through November, the airport reported handling 18,173 tons of cargo, up 26.3% versus a year earlier.
