Eugene, Ore., Airport Boasts Increased Traffic

Feb. 17 -- The number of passengers flying out of the Eugene Airport increased 3.5 percent last year and could keep rising, Manager Bob Noble said, if he can persuade airlines to add more flights.

The number of passengers increased to 360,349, which includes 4,983 charter passengers, Noble said Wednesday, and planes flying out of Eugene averaged 80 percent full.

"We're at that point where if we had more capacity with the number of seats, we could put more people on the planes because there's demand," he said.

Once planes get too full, travelers either don't make the trip, go to Portland International Airport or drive, he said.

That's why Noble spends much of his time working to bring in new carriers or to persuade existing carriers to increase their flights in and out of Eugene, he said.

"It's a tough environment because of the financial situation of the airlines," he said.

About seven U.S. airlines have filed for bankruptcy in recent years, including major carriers such as Northwest Airlines and Delta. United Airlines is just now emerging from bankruptcy after four years.

Noble has been successful in wooing airlines in the past; since 1999, airlines have added flights to Phoenix, Ariz., Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Financial commitments from the business community have played a key role, he said.

In some cases, local businesses pledged prepaid business on airlines in the critical first year of service. To persuade Delta to fly from Eugene to Salt Lake City in 2004, the airport and local businesses put together a package valued at nearly $1.25 million. That included $570,000 in pledges from local businesses, $400,000 from the airport as a revenue guarantee for Delta, and a combined $225,000 in advertising from the Eugene and Salt Lake City airports.

Dave Hauser, president of the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, said the business community remains as committed as ever to growing air service and, just as important, retaining the service that's here now.

"Quality air service drives quality economic development in today's environment," he said. "It's difficult to have one without the other."

For businesses, "the ability to efficiently get to and from key markets where they have customers, operations, clients, is a critical business issue." He said top priorities for expanding service are Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

The chamber has no current projects to establish a travel bank by enlisting financial commitments from businesses, "but we're always prepared to do it for the right opportunity should it come along," he said.

Those sort of incentives will need to continue if Eugene wants to keep expanding its air service, Noble said. He said he's talking to the existing carriers and new carriers "all the time" about adding service, but that such deals can take years to develop and months to put in place. He said he was hopeful "but not incredibly optimistic" that air service will be expanded this year. Unless new service is added, he expects the number of passenger flights to increase 1 percent to 2 percent in 2006.

Noble said he wants to lower the local rates and charges to airlines to be more competitive in recruiting and retaining air service.

While more passengers were getting on planes in 2005, fewer planes were taking off. Departures and arrivals decreased 7.4 percent, from 28,166 in 2004 to 26,225 in 2005. Noble said the decrease was the result of airlines flying bigger planes, switching from 50-seaters to planes with 70 to 90 seats.

The airport is owned by the city of Eugene but is self-supporting, with an annual budget of $5.5 million.

It has three more $1 million payments to make on debt acquired in 1989 for terminal construction, and once that's paid off, it should give the airport more breathing room in its operations, Noble said.

Overall, 2005 was a "great year," he said. Highlights include completion of a new 6,000-foot runway; installation of a high-tech landing system to allow more flights to land and take off in thick fog; Delta adding a third flight to Salt Lake City; and the addition of wireless Internet access in the terminal for business travelers.

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