SAVANNAH, GA— Undaunted by Hurricane Matthew, Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) welcomed an all-time record number of passengers in 2016 and finished the year with an eight percent increase over 2015. The Airport boarded over one million passengers during the twelve-month period, capping the year with a total of 1,089,222 enplanements. Passenger deplanements were 1,101,184 bringing the total number of passengers served to 2,190,406.
October is typically a peak travel month for SAV; however, this year Hurricane Matthew disrupted plans for many who typically travel to the region during this busy month. Matthew triggered a three-day disruption of airline services for the airport resulting in a 10% decrease in passengers for the month of October.
Market share for airlines serving Savannah/Hilton Head International in 2016 was as follows: Delta Airlines 43.72%, American 24.23%, United 14.07%, JetBlue 11.80%, Allegiant 5.8%, and Sun Country .31%. The Airport finished out the year with a 82% load factor.
Low cost airline Allegiant added three new routes with low base fares averaging nearly half the cost of the average domestic round-trip fare to Savannah in 2016. In April, the airport celebrated the addition of nonstop service between Savannah and Baltimore, followed by the launch of new service to Lexington KY in June, and a kickoff to the holiday travel season with new nonstop service to Newark Liberty International in November.
Travelers can choose from seven different airlines – Air Canada, Allegiant, American, Delta, JetBlue, Sun Country or United – offering nonstop service to a variety of major cities including Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, New York, Philadelphia Toronto and Washington, DC. For the most current flight information, check the Airport’s website at www.flySAV.com.
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