Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | October 28, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 81 35th Anniversary WBJ BY LAURA FINALDI Special to WBJ I t's been 35 years since Worcester Regional Airport saw its passenger traffic peak when 354,000 travelers passed through the airport's terminal in 1989. No other year has since come close. Today, thanks to larger planes from its airlines – JetBlue, Delta and American Airlines – and demand for more flights to Florida, passenger traffic is on the rebound, particularly from post- pandemic levels, said airport director Andy Davis. Challenges remain: JetBlue, the only airline to operate more than one route out of Worcester, eliminated its daily morning flight to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York last June, and Worcester still lacks direct service to major hubs like Atlanta and Chicago. Davis remains positive about where things are headed, though, due to investments from the Massachusetts Port Authority – more than $100 million since 2010 – and demand from leisure travelers. Timothy P. Murray, president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the future of Worcester Regional will likely hinge on a combination of business and leisure travel. JetBlue launched seasonal service to Fort Myers in January, and it was successful enough that the airline was scheduled to bring it back earlier this season, in October. "e good news is coming out of COVID, [the airport] quickly reestablished success with Florida routes to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale," Murray said. "e trial with Fort Myers had very positive results. Hopefully that can lead to year-round flights there." Fast forward: 2034 | Worcester Regional Airport Momentum building toward more flights, airlines Where things stand With three airlines and four jet bridges, the airport could easily accommodate double or triple the number of carriers it serves, Davis said. Passenger traffic came back in a big way aer the pandemic, despite the end of the JetBlue service to New York. Last year 204,162 passengers traveled through the airport, compared to 195,035 in 2019. "Our passenger counts went up 28 percent from 2022 to 2023," Davis said. "We recovered very quickly, faster than smaller airports. ere were some airports that didn't recover air service at all. We got all the airlines back and flying bigger airplanes." JetBlue added a flight to Orlando in 2023. Load factors in early 2024 were between 80 percent and 90 percent, Davis said. Flights to Fort Myers will operate twice a week from October through February and then start running daily until April. "rough June, we've already flown 124,000 [people]. If things hold up, we could easily break the 204,000 with Fort Myers service," Davis said. "I don't want to jinx anything, but it could be yet another year of good growth." Airlines like Breeze Airways, Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air, and Avelo Airlines have all visited Worcester and seen what it has to offer, according to Davis, only to pass on setting up at ORH. e airport tries to stay competitive, Davis said, by waiving landing fees for the first two years of service for every new route. Davis suspects Worcester's proximity to Boston remains a hurdle. "At the end of the day, it's the airlines that want to strategically fly out of a location based on their data and based out of their route system," he said. ORH brought in $3 million in revenue in fiscal 2023, an increase over the $2.3 million it generated the year before. e increase came from terminal rents, landing fees, and commission revenue, according to Massport's 2023 annual report. However, its expenses also increased, from $9.6 million in 2022 to $11 million last year – thanks to fully restored airline service. e local business community has expressed interest in the airport adding 0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 ORH passenger traffic, past five years '19 '20 '21 '22 '23 Low: 27,540 High: 204,162 Airport passenger traffic Source: Massport Andy Davis, director, Worcester Regional Aiport COURTESY WORCESTER REGIONAL AIRPORT more flights to Florida, including Tampa and West Palm Beach, Davis said. Hubs like Chicago and Atlanta would allow Worcester travelers to easily connect to anywhere in the world. "Our vision is to accommodate our air service with the demand that's out there. Our catchment area, or people who live within closer driving distance to Worcester than any other surrounding airport, is 1 million people," he said. "e potential is there." Officials believe Worcester Regional has the capacity to add more flights and even airlines – and be flying high by 2034. COURTESY WORCESTER REGIONAL AIRPORT

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