STEWART AIRPORT – Passenger
levels at Stewart International Airport doubled in the first two months
of the year as compared to the same period last year.
The continued dramatic rise is attributed to the five routes to Europe
instituted by Norwegian Air last June.
During January and February, a total of 82,870 people used Stewart for
travel while during the same period last year, 42,070 traveled through
the Newburgh area airport.
Airport Business Development Director Michael Torelli told the Stewart
Airport Commission on Tuesday the trends will continue through mid-June
“and we will be well on our way to another banner year.”
Late last year, Norwegian secured approvals to fly to England and Torelli
said “it is on our radar with them” going forward.
Torelli said the airport is continually talking up Stewart in an effort
to attract additional service.
“We just had staff go to Ecuador, which was part of Routes Americas,
and they met with many different airlines both foreign and domestic,”
he said. “Everyone is always interested in how Norwegian is doing
because it has made our catchment even bigger with our bus service down
to New York City so a lot more people are looking at it.”
Cargo tonnage flowing through Stewart in the first two months of the
year increased by 27 percent over the same period in 2017 with 2,884 tons
carried last year compared to 3,661 tons so far this year.
