Airline Activity

September 7, 2010

Florida Transportation Indicators

Vehicle Miles Traveled

Transportation Construction Cost

Airline Activity

About

Airline activity is shown using these five different indicators: 'Total Commercial Passengers', 'Monthly Emplanements', 'Annual Emplanements', 'Commercial Service Operations' and 'Monthly Aircraft Operations'. These activities are shown for nine selected airports in Florida using their individual monthly reports. These airports are the Miami, Orlando International, Orlando Sanford Int'l, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale Hollywood, Palm Beach, Jacksonville, Southwest Florida and Sarasota-Bradenton. The total number of passengers includes both emplanements and deplanements. The data is updated monthly with a lag time of approximately two months.

Thousands of flights depart from Florida’s 21 commercial and 108 private airports every day. Florida’s ability to connect efficiently to both domestic and international markets is vital to its economy. Therefore, tracking trends in airline service can be an effective method of determining how Florida’s economy is growing and changing. Two important trends to consider are the number of total operations and passengers at the commercial airports. Operations are landings, takeoffs, or touch-and-go of an aircraft. An emplanement or enplanement refers to a passenger’s boarding to an airplane. Eight of the 21 commercial airports in Florida handled approximately 94 percent of the demand for emplanements and operations in 2002. These airports include Miami Int'l Airport, Orlando Int'l Airport, Tampa Int'l Airport, Ft. Lauderdale Hollywood Int'l Airport, Palm Beach Int'l Airport, Jacksonville Int'l Airport, Southwest Florida and Sarasota-Bradenton Int'l Airport.

Limited airport capacity, airspace congestion and other delays can reduce Florida’s ability to compete in the international business and tourist markets. This is one of the reasons why the Florida Aviation System Plan (FASP) was originally created in 1976 by the Florida Department of Transportation. FASP is a twenty-year plan for the development of Florida’s publicly owned airports. To learn more about FASP, visit http://www.dot.state.fl.us/aviation.

Another increasingly prominent area in the airline industry is security. Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, this part of air travel has been radically reformed. The Federal Aviation Administration in conjunction with Florida’s airports will continue to work to ensure that air travel is safe and efficient.

Contact Information:

Florida Department of Transportation, Aviation Office

Suwanee Street, MS 46; Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0450

Abdul Hatim

Phone: (850) 414-4504

abdul.hatim@dot.state.fl.us

Miami International Airport

P.O. Box 592075, AMF Branch; Miami, FL 33159

Angela Gittens

Phone:(305) 876-7077

Fax:(305) 876-0948

agittens@miami-airport.com