Passenger volume continues to drop
NEW WINDSOR – Nine percent fewer people used Stewart Airport at Newburgh for air travel in 2015 compared to the year before.
The Stewart Airport Commission was briefed on Tuesday with year-end numbers of travelers released – 281,501 in 2015; 309,357 in 2014.
There is a reason for the decline in passengers last year, airport Business
Development Director Michael Torelli told the commission.
“We are the only airport (in the Port Authority family) to decline in passenger service and that is directly attributable to the number of seats being offered,” Torelli said. “The seats that we do have here are doing well. We have load factors in the mid- to upper-80s range, which is very healthy for a regional airport, but we need more seats and everyone knows it.”
On the cargo side of operations at Stewart, tonnage increased last year by 10 percent, going from 15,460 tons in 2014 to 17,018 tons this past year. Torelli credited that to increased flights by FedEx and UPS at the end of the year.
