News

Flying high

Passenger traffic up nearly one-third as Bangor International Airport increases flight options

By Richard Redmond

Posted on April 26, 2004, at 12:00 a.m.

Planes aren’t the only thing taking off these days at Bangor International Airport. The number of passengers choosing to travel through Bangor’s airport is also soaring to the tune of a 30 percent increase in passenger traffic over the last year. Bangor’s numbers are uncharacteristically high compared to a stagnant 2 percent average rate of growth for airports nationally, according to Airport Director Rebecca Hupp.

Hupp says more and more passengers are looking to Bangor because of the convenience of not having to travel to a distant airport for their travel needs. The airport’s advertising campaign tells passengers to “Travel Smart – Fly Through Bangor” in an effort to sell locals on the idea of using the Bangor airport when traveling. But traveling “smart” isn’t all about finding the best price for your ticket, Hupp said, touting the convenience of not having to go far to catch a plane.

And passengers say they’d have to agree. Overwhelmingly, passengers said the convenience of being able to fly directly out of Bangor was their No. 1 priority.

“We may be able to find a cheaper flight out of Portland of Manchester but then we have to travel a couple of hours to get there and pay some more money to get there,” said passenger Donna Theell.

University of Maine student Kevin Allen also said convenience was among his top priorities when he made his travel plans for spring break.

“If you go anywhere else to fly you’re taking up time and gas … it was very convenient,” Allen said.

Finding a cheaper flight isn’t hard if you’re willing to make the drive to airports like Boston, Portland or Manchester, N.H., all of which have more destinations. But for passenger Bill Hears, the time he saves by flying out of Bangor outweighs the higher cost of tickets.

“It’s really a full day out of your time to go down to Boston. It’s the convenience,” Hears said.

But finding a cheap seat and saving time driving to the airport are only some of the things passengers said were important to them. An area they say Bangor could improve on is offering more connecting flights to more destinations.

“Today we’re going to Atlanta and we’re stopping in Cincinnati and last week I went to Chicago and I stopped in Cincinnati so there’s not a lot of direct flights,” Theel said.

Allen agreed, saying the number of connections he had to make to get from Bangor to Miami was excessive. Allen had to make connections in Philadelphia and Charlotte before arriving in Miami.

“More direct flights would be great,” Allen said. “I know it would be asking a lot to have no connections at all but even one would be better.”

But even without the direct flights they want, Theell and Allen both said they would continue to use the Bangor airport because of the convenience it offers.

“The gate is 100 feet from the door you walk into – that’s convenience,” Allen said.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 26th, 2004, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.