Flights cutbacks by Spirit Airlines continues to affect traffic at Myrtle Beach airport

Passenger traffic at the Myrtle Beach International Airport continues to be severely impacted. Stopping of flights services by Myrtle Beach-based Direct Air and curtailing of Spirit Airlines flights operating out of here are the main reasons for the downward spiral.

Myrtle Beach airport officials said that the passenger traffic at the Myrtle Beach International Airport had witnessed its biggest drop so far this year in July. The officials further stated that this downward trend is expected to continue for quite some time without no improvement in sight in the near future.

According to the officials, there was a nearly 25 percent decline in July 2012 as compared to the same month last year. About 92,345 passengers took flights out of the airport in July this year as compared to 122,682 passengers in July 2011. Ever since 2009, this is for the first time that fewer than 100,000 passengers traveled out of the airport in the month of July this year, which is considered to be one of the busiest months for tourists.

The ongoing decline in passenger traffic has been due to the loss of Direct Air flights. The Myrtle-based Direct Air abruptly stopped its flights services out of Myrtle Beach airport and filed for bankruptcy in March this year. Apart from this Spirit Airlines flights cutbacks are also being seen among the major causes. Spirit Airlines transports half of the passengers out of Myrtle Beach International Airport every year.