At its regular meeting, the GSP Airport Commission adopted a fiscal year 2013-14 budget and announced it expects revenues to increase 8.69 percent. Revenue is expected to surpass $25 million by 2014, up about $8.1 million from 2010.
The news was mostly positive. The cost per enplanement (CPE) is expected to drop to $6.45 from $6.60, which will help with air service development.
Among challenges, President and CEO Dave Edwards said that sequestration continues to be a problem. International travel has been affected with wait times in Miami being three to four hours.
The commission also addressed the question of whether the cost of bringing Southwest Airlines to the airport justified the benefits. Jack G. Murrin, vice president of administration and finance and CFO, gave a presentation that answered with a resounding “yes.”
Among the gains, jobs increased by 5,837 and income by more than $58 million, he said. Airfares have come much closer to national averages, though still hover just above.
Total incentives paid to Southwest were nearly $4.9 million in fees waived from April 2011 to April 2013.
At the same time, there was some concern over Southwest’s plans to move into the Charlotte market, which a spokesperson said would doubtless mean some loss of passengers to Charlotte. Edwards said in the meeting that he expressed those concerns to the airline.
The fiscal year ended June 30. The airport’s operating income was up by 1.58 percent when compared to the budget through May 2012. Operating expenses were down by 6.51 percent over the budgeted amount for the period. Net operating income was up 11.50 percent. For the period ending May 2013, about $10.39 million has been returned to the bottom line in operating income.
