Passenger count slips at BNIA - Business First of Buffalo:

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According to statistics compiled bythe , operators the Buffalio airport, the outbound passenger count in May was off 6 with the airport handlinh 235,313 passengers compared with 250.554 one year ago. remainx the airport’s busiest air carrier of the nine thatservd BNIA. Southwest had 26 percenty of the airport’s outbound passenger count while Jet Blue captureed 18 percent and USAirways had 17 Buffalo was one of the few marketa Southwest serves that saw an upwaredspike -- albeit a minuscule one -- in passengefr traffic. Southwest handled 61,776 passengere in May, compared with the 61,68q it handled last May. Through May, the airport handled 2.
09 milliojn inbound and outbound passengers, compared with 2.21 millionn last year. While passenger counts in Buffall aredown 5.5 percent, the rest of the countru is seeing a 9.9 percent drop in passengers. “Th good news is that we are performingv better than the rest ofthe country,” said Willianm Vanecek, NFTA director of aviation. Vanecel said negotiations are underway withDirecr Air, which runs limited service from to Myrtl e Beach and Punta Gorda/Fort Myers, Fla., to add servicre to another city. Three locationzs are under consideration, and Vanecek said the NFTA and the airlineas hope to reach aconclusion soon.
Direct Air’s service is expected to increase the exposure of the new Niagaraa Falls International Airportpassenger terminal, whic opens in early September. Vanecek added that Airlinw Advantagefrom Rockford, Ill., will be running special servicwe to Niagara Falls this summer. Air Advantag e began the Niagara Fallsz runlast year. The firm may be addingb service to Niagara Fallsfrom Allentown, Pa. and Mass., this year. Also, the NFTA will be accepting bids to operats a restaurant in the new Niagaraa Falls terminal untilJuly 1. Three firms showedx an interest duringa pre-bid conference earlier this month.