By Tara Hernandez
Gerald R. Ford International Airport
The Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GFIA) has reached the one-million passenger mark earlier than ever in its 54-year history. Passenger numbers for April were up 15- percent year-over-year, as GFIA’s total passenger numbers through April 2018 reached 1,049,212.
April 2018 saw 123,225 enplaned passengers and 135,881 deplaned passengers, and the passenger totals are up 15.21% for the year.
“We were thrilled with our record-breaking March when we set the busiest month in our history, and to follow it with not only another tremendous rise in traffic, but hitting the million-passenger mark this early is incredible,” said GFIA President & CEO Jim Gill. “Airlines are investing in this airport adding more frequencies, larger aircraft, and employing more staff to keep the services running smoothly. We are proud to be a catalyst for economic growth in this region and to support the business and leisure traffic that utilize our airport each week.”
GFIA is coming off a March that was the single busiest in history with passenger numbers up 16.2- percent, and is coming off a 2017 that saw over 2.8 million passengers, the fifth straight year of record growth.
GFIA has seen growth in 57 of the last 64 months.
“Kudos to our entire airport staff for their efforts, especially our hard working airline crews and TSA who keep passengers flowing through our new consolidated checkpoint quickly and efficiently, and getting them to their destinations safely,” said Gill. “We couldn’t grow without a strong team and we have that here at the Ford Airport.”
GFIA has invested in new facilities to accommodate the growing traffic by recently completing Phase One of the Gateway Transformation Project – an upgrade in space, retail, food and beverage, restrooms, finishes, amenities, and customer service offerings. The project’s main feature is the consolidated passenger security checkpoint which centralized and combined security screening to one main checkpoint in the Airport. Construction also included new terrazzo flooring, lighting fixtures, pre and post security business centers, a military welcome center, kids play areas, and much more.
Phase Two of the Gateway Transformation Project is slated to begin in Fall 2018 with construction taking place at the airline ticket counters, baggage claim area, and ‘front of house’ area.
“As we continue to grow in traffic it is imperative that our facilities keep up with our passenger demand,” said Gill. “Our passengers keep coming back because we listen to their wants and needs, and as they do we will continue to do our part to improve our amenities, technology, customer service and infrastructure. We are excited to see what the future holds, and we hope to add more growth in the years to come.”
GFIA monthly passenger statistics are available at http://www.grr.org/history.php.
