St. Louis Lambert International Airport officials say they’re seeing an “impressive trend” of growth.

Photo courtesy of St. Louis Lambert International Airport

Lambert officials say the airport has recorded 26 straight months of passenger growth, dating to September 2015.

Lambert spokesman Jeff Lea says Lambert has served more than 10.9 million total passengers year-to-date, compared to 10.4 million in the same period in 2016.

“We also look at our plane activity, and we have more operations with our commercial aircraft,” Lea says. “We have more air cargo and all those kind of key factors.”

Lea says Lambert is seeing numerous positive trends. He says air cargo activity is seeing 3.1 percent growth in aircraft departures.

“This goes beyond just the FedEx and UPS which are your overnight type of packaging, but some of your special air cargo charters we’ve seen quite a few more this year,” says Lea.

Lea tells Missourinet overall aircraft operations are up three percent this year, with more than 147,000 takeoffs and landings.

That includes commercial, cargo and military.

The growth comes as additional flights are being added at Lambert.

Southwest Airlines will launch new international nonstop service to Cancun on Saturday. Lea notes St. Louis will be one of only 15 Southwest cities to be designated as an “international gateway” for that airline.

And Seattle-based Alaska Airlines will be adding a second daily flight from Lambert to San Diego in December.

Lea says that is great news for tourists and for business travelers.

“To add a second daily flight to San Diego, adding it right in the peak of the winter season where people want to go where it’s warm and sunny and not where it’s going to be cold and snowy at times,” Lea says.

Lea says Alaska Airlines operates in terminal one at Lambert, which is the “C” concourse.

St. Louis airlines are currently operating 254 daily flights to 65 nonstop destinations, which is seven more daily flights than in November 2016.

 

Click here to listen to the full five-minute interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Lambert spokesman Jeff Lea, which was recorded on November 6, 2017: