Des Moines International Airport is bucking the national trend of reduced passenger boardings. And the numbers are even better than previously believed, officials learned recently.

At the same time, the majority of Des Moines air passengers are boarding more cost-efficient regional jets, which airlines are increasingly turning to as they retire their aging fleets of larger planes.

In the first six months of this year, passenger boardings at the airport were up nearly 4.5 percent from the same period in 2002. The figure was revised last week by the airport to correct a significant underreporting by one airline.

Atlantic Coast Airlines, a United Airlines partner, had not reported its boardings in the belief that United was doing so. The revised figures put the airport on track for a near-record year, with 879,296 total boardings in the first six months of the year.

Overall boardings at U.S. airports, in comparison, have gone in the opposite direction, declining nearly 1 percent through May 2003 compared to the same period in 2002.

About 100 of the 138 daily scheduled flights from Des Moines are flown by regional airlines, which primarily use regional jets.

“I think the upside for Des Moines is that you’ll end up seeing more frequency of flights,” said Aviation Director Bill Flannery. “Where you might have had two flights a day, you might have four or five flights a day.”

To accommodate the increased use of the smaller lanes, the airport plans to spend about $700,000 to add a passenger waiting area on the lower level to relieve congestion experienced during peak times.

From the airlines’ perspective, the cost of operating a regional jet is generally less than for a larger jet, meaning a lower per-seat cost to recoup.

“And they can better manage their inventory with smaller jets,” Flannery said. “So it gives them more flexibility to adjust to market demands.”

Meredith Corp., one of Des Moines’ largest business travelers, also sees some advantages to regional jets.

“They’re able to make turnarounds (loading and unloading passengers) quicker,” said Art Slusark, staff vice president for corporate communications. “And they help airlines keep costs down, and we’re all for that.”

On the downside, any regional jet flight longer than about 90 minutes gets a bit tiring because the seating is more cramped, he said.

Meredith’s biggest destinations from Des Moines are New York and Chicago, where it has offices and where many of its clients are located.  Among the issues it’s monitoring is the loss of Continental Airline’s direct flight to the New York City market this fall, as well as a recent reduction in American Airlines’ flight schedule to St. Louis.   Continental had said it wasn’t making money on the two daily direct flights to Newark, N.J.

American’s decision to reduce its Des Moines to St. Louis schedule by half, to three flights daily, was part of a larger reduction many airlines are making to realign the supply of seats with demand.

Business fares as high as $1,000 to some cities from Des Moines remains remains an issue for Meredith. Still, the company doesn’t ask its employees to drive to Omaha or Kansas City to save on fares because rates on most routes are competitive, Slusark said.

Overall, Meredith is a satisifed airport user, he said. In addition to having more flights and more destinations, fares to many markets have also improved, he said.

“Quite frankly, we’re not hearing a lot of complaints,” he said.

“It’s vastly improved from 10 years ago, and slightly improved from five years ago as well.”

The easy access to the airport is one of its best features, Slusark said.

“We’re less than 10 minutes from our doors to their doors, and you can park your car right there. It is stress-free. And they’ve done a lot to improve the look of the airport in that time as well.”

GROWTH LIKELY FOR AIRPORT IN NEXT FIVE YEARS

Given the trends in passenger demand, it’s a good bet Des Moines International Airport will need to expand within the next five years, said Aviation Director Bill Flannery.

“I think the airline industry will recover, and there will be a trend up in passenger demand,” he said.

The airport has the capacity to add six boarding gates to the 13 it presently has. Just one of those gates is idle right now.

Along with more gates, the airport may eventually need to reopen the parking lot at Fleur Drive and Army Post Road for overflow parking.

“Also I think you’ll see more self-service kiosks for ticketing and passenger check-in,” Flannery said. “So we may not see as much of a need for additional ticket counter space.”

Some major infrastructure improvements are already in place. This year marks the completion of a seven-year, $80 million runway expansion.

With increased activity comes more funding from the federal Aviation Trust Fund, passenger facility charges and user fees, the airport’s three major revenue sources.

Flannery said though it’s hard to predict exactly how much activity will increase and drive growth, “my crystal ball says the airport will remain a work in progress.”