Passenger Figures Decline at Bob Hope Airport

June 10, 2014
The number of passengers at Bob Hope Airport declined 1.5% in April, and parking revenues, while they did rise, didn't grow enough to meet budget projections, according to the latest statistics.

June 07--The number of passengers at Bob Hope Airport declined 1.5% in April, and parking revenues, while they did rise, didn't grow enough to meet budget projections, according to the latest statistics.

There were 325,839 passengers in April, compared to 330,772 passengers in April 2013, according to a report released by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority on Monday.

Though the number of passengers slid, it was still above what was anticipated in the airport's budget, said Dan Feger, the airfield's executive director.

So far this year, the airport has handled slightly fewer than 1.23 million passengers, down about 1% from approximately 1.24 million passengers during the same time period in 2013.

Following a months-long trend, parking revenues at Bob Hope Airport increased in April even though passenger numbers declined.

Revenues rose about 1.8%, which is lower than what was budgeted, Feger said, adding that airport officials had projected increases of 4% or 5% each month in their budget.

The airport increased its parking fees in December and January in some of its lots, which has helped drive up revenues.

Also, the airport no longer has to save a portion of parking funds to cover past litigation costs. After two years, airport officials have stopped allocating $1 from each parking transaction to cover a 2011 settlement with Lockheed Martin Corp.

"For whatever reason, in April, our parking revenues didn't grow as much as we would have expected," Feger said.

While he said he couldn't give a reason why parking revenues didn't meet budget projections, Feger said he will wait until the May numbers come in to determine if the smaller growth is a trend.

"There's a change here," he said. "Potentially, it may be something as simple as the number of conferences that the Marriot Hotel has."

Passenger tallies were up at most of the other airports in the region. Los Angeles International Airport saw an 8.5% hike, while John Wayne Airport reported a 2.2% rise.

Even Ontario International Airport, after years of declining passenger numbers, had a roughly 1.5% increase. Volaris Airlines started twice-weekly service from Ontario to Guadalajara, Mexico, in April.

Long Beach Airport was the only other airfield to report a decline, dropping 6.1%.

Copyright 2014 - Burbank Leader, Glendale, Calif.