Passenger traffic at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport increased by 4.3 percent in the first half of 2014 over the year before, beating out the national growth rate of just under 1 percent.
A total of 704,070 passengers flew in and out of Fresno in the first six months of the year compared to 675,044 during the same period in 2013.
The airport attributed the increase to additional flights from existing carriers like Frontier Airlines going from three flights a week to four.
As well, the introduction of larger and reconfigured aircraft meant an increase in available seats. From January to May, airlines operating at FYI offered 349,659 total seats over 347,828 during the same period last year.
Freight moving through FYI also increased, going from 9.17 million pounds from January to May in 2013 to 9.87 million pounds this year.
Airfares also remained constant at the airport, even as the western United States saw an average increase of 3 percent of the last year.
“Last spring we had strong ridership during what is typically a slower travel time of year,” said Director of Aviation Kevin Meikle, in a release. “We anticipate this trend to continue as we transition out of summer and into the fall.”
In all, ten carriers provide 42 daily nonstop domestic and international departures from FYI to 11 destinations, including American Airlines, American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express.
