Columbia Metropolitan Airport seeing more traffic, capacity

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More passengers are flying through Columbia, according to the latest report from the Columbia Metropolitan Airport.

Nearly 97,000 passengers used CAE in April, a 17.7% increase in traffic compared to the number of passengers who used the airport in April 2017. CAE has seen a 6.7% increase during the first four months of 2018.

Mike Gula, interim airport director, called the growth a response to improved airfares and flight options. Gula said he expects to see continued growth as the airlines continue to add capacity to some of their busiest routes.

In June, American Airlines will introduce mainline jet service between Columbia and the airline’s Dallas/Ft. Worth hub. The twice-daily service, currently flown with 76-seat regional jets, is being upgraded to 140-seat American Airlines jets, and passengers can connect to more than 200 destinations from the Dallas hub.

“American Airlines growing our Dallas capacity by over 75% is a vote of confidence in this market, and a great benefit to our region,” Anthony Gilmer, CAE air service and marketing manager, said in a statement. “In this industry, growth generally leads to more growth, so we’re very optimistic that there are more good things to come for CAE.”