Member

Joined: 27 Jun 2005
Posts: 333
Location: St. Louis, MO

http://www.transtats.bts.gov/a...20Indianapolis%20International

Interesting stats on the airport, then again, a lot of this we all pretty much knew.

What I am guessing by this is that the top destination airports are based on number of flights and or passengers getting on those planes....but the traffic is not exclusive to final destination traffic.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

I think it's interesting to compare the number of passengers 2002-2006 to the number of flights 2002-2006. Noting that the 2006 data is for Sep 05 through Aug 06, you can see that the number of passengers per flight has changed over the years.

2002: 6.68 million pax on 33000 flights = 202 pax per flight
2003: 6.36 million pax on 42000 flights = 151 pax per flight
2004: 7.19 million pax on 42000 flights = 171 pax per flight
2005: 7.83 million pax on 43000 flights = 182 pax per flight
Sep05-Aug06: 8.01 million pax on 39000 flights = 205 pax per flight

So that raises a couple of questions. First, why the big change in pax per flight between 02 and 03? Did airlines drastically replace mainline a/c with RJ's? Obviously, we added a bunch of flights between 02 and 03. The other possibility is a big drop in load factors. Maybe its a little bit of both?

Second, it appears that passenger growth may be slowing down. Between 2003 and 2005, IND had 1.5 million more pax fly from the airport. Annual pax growth was running at 13% 2003-04 and has slowed to about 2.3% growth. What caused the big jump in pax numbers, and why has that growth slowed? Airline passenger numbers increased nationwide at the same time, so maybe the pattern at IND is just a mirror of the national trend. But we know from other stats that growth at IND has been better than many other airports in the region. So are we just getting saturated, having picked up all the demand that's out there for IND? Is terminal space starting to limit growth here?

Third, if the Sep05-Aug06 numbers hold for the 2006 statistical year, then it appear we've come back to 200+ pax per flight. What's to explain this? More large mainline a/c verus RJs? It would appear that number of flights is down, but pax numbers are slightly up, so that would have to signify a shift to larger birds.

Member

Joined: 15 May 2006
Posts: 728
Location: West Lafayette, IN

Boofer wrote:

First, why the big change in pax per flight between 02 and 03?

Second, it appears that passenger growth may be slowing down. What caused the big jump in pax numbers, and why has that growth slowed? Is terminal space starting to limit growth here?

Third, if the Sep05-Aug06 numbers hold for the 2006 statistical year, then it appear we've come back to 200+ pax per flight. What's to explain this? More large mainline a/c verus RJs?

RJ's may have something to do with it, but there was also a rapid increase in flights, that probably weren't all full all the time. This would bring pax per flight down.

Growth has probably slowed because of the lack of new flights, which is in part due to the limited terminal space IMHO.

Yes, we do have larger aircraft like the NW 753, and F9 737's. On top of that, wouldn't full flights also bring that number back up?

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Those PAX per flight don't look right given that the normal mainline jet serving IND carries maybe 110 to 125 people. A bit more if it is a 757-200.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

I thought the pax per flight numbers looked funny, too. It's all the BTS's data, though. So it must be something to do with how the "number of flights" data are measured. Perhaps a "flight" is a take off plus a landing, so you'd need to double the number if you're matching up passenger numbers on a return basis. If that's the case, then the pax per flight calculation needs to be cut in half. That puts the 2006 figures at 102.5 pax per flight instead of 205. That might make a little more sense given mainline jets (mostly 737s, A319/320s, and MD-80s) carry 125-150 pax.

Still, however you slice it, the trends are the same. So the same questions remain.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

102.5 is an outstanding load if correct. I just feel bad for that half a passenger. lol

AirTran Reporter

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Indianapolis

I was judging Moot Court at IUPUI last night and my co-judge was a guy by the last name of Duncan (i did not catch his first name) but he mentioned working with the airport. He indicated that the new terminal will be a major improvement over what we have now and that the target date for opening is still in 2008. Not new information but an interesting situation

Member

Joined: 15 May 2006
Posts: 728
Location: West Lafayette, IN

I know who you're talking about, I think his is the attorney for the airport or something. His wife was my Spanish teacher last year and she told me about it.

AirTran Reporter

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Indianapolis

That's right...i remember him using his wife teaching spanish as some kind of example last night.

Member

Joined: 15 May 2006
Posts: 728
Location: West Lafayette, IN

haha, its a small world