No Bounce-back in Passenger Numbers
at Sea-Tac in 2003

Passenger traffic at Sea-Tac Airport for 2003 remained virtually the same as in 2002, according to a staff memorandum released at the Port Commission meeting on February 5. Total number of passengers rose 0.2 percent, to an annual total of 26,755,888, while operations declined to 353,759, a decline of 3.0 percent from the previous year.

The decline in operations means that airlines are adding larger regional-jet planes, & that the number of passengers per flight is on the rise. It also reflects a huge drop-off in flights to Portland and Vancouver, B.C., since 2000. Trips to those two major regional destinations are down over 30 percent for each city from the 2000 numbers.

Staff said that there were "some signs of passenger growth apparent at the end of the year". Actually, December 2003 passenger traffic was down 0.2 percent from December 2002. For future reference, readers will want to take special note of the Airport's predictions for Year 2004: Total passengers, in the range, 26.9 – 27.6 millions; total operations, in the range, 360,000 – 370,000

50 million passengers at Sea-Tac?

Port of Seattle Commissioner Bob Edwards said on January 22, at the meeting of the Executive Board of the Puget Sound Regional Council, that the Port is planning on the basis that there will soon be 50 million passengers a year travelling through Sea-Tac Airport. Commissioner Edwards did not say just when this would happen.

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