DUBOIS – Announced at last Friday’s monthly DuBois Regional Airport (DUJ) Authority board meeting, the passenger counts for May of 2022 eclipsed 1,300 total passengers, beating the previous Airport record held in July of 2019 of over 1,200 total passengers.
Compared to May of 2021, it is a 75 percent increase in passenger count. Also, April of 2022 had 803 total passengers, which was the highest April ever for total passengers exceeding last year’s count at 601.
“In fact, DuBois saw the best March, best April, and best May ever in their history,” said Stan Little, chairman and chief executive officer of Southern Airways/Mokulele Airlines, who joined the meeting via teleconference.
“This is showing that our operation including the interline agreements, price points, and reliability are working on all cylinders to meet and exceed the demand of your Tri-County area.”
Southern Airways Express, operator of the Essential Air Service routes from the DuBois Regional Airport to Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) and Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD), reported steady growth each month in 2022 exceeding pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.
“Based on sales data we’re seeing right now,” Little continued, “the month of June is on track to be the best ever as well. July is always the biggest month and set a DuBois Regional Airport record in 2019 with over 1,200 passengers, and obviously now broken by May’s outstanding performance.
“It is possible that record will be broken again this coming July. We’re excited and optimistic this growth at DUJ.”
“One strategic point to make is how well the interlines are performing”, Little explained. “Over 65 percent of all traffic to PIT or IAD connects to an American or United flight and DUJ exceeding expectations of Southern’s forecast in 2022.
“Out of all passengers who connect to another flight, the United Airlines interconnect at Dulles is becoming the most popular accounting for 43 percent of all interconnect traffic starting at DUJ. American Airlines with another interline agreement with Southern tallied to 32 percent of overall interline traffic in April.”
The interline agreements that Southern Airways executes with American Airlines and United Airways means that local passengers can book a seamless travel experience from DuBois to any destination of those carriers across the globe.
Little reminded the board “this partnership means that passengers have the opportunity to purchase connections between Southern and United in a single transaction, and upon check-in at the originating airport such as DuBois, to have their checked baggage automatically transferred to their final destination.
“Unlike other commuter carriers, Southern’s alliance with United is bilateral, making tickets available for purchase on Southern’s own iFlySouthern.com Web site and beginning this past month on United.com. And it’s the same arrangement with American on their Web site and our Web site.”
Flights on Southern Airways from DuBois to Pittsburgh or Washington-Dulles start as low as $34 depending on how far in advanced tickets are booked.
For the full schedule of early morning and late afternoon flights to both airports with advanced pricing information, visit www.duboisairport.com or www.iflysouthern.com, or call 1-800-329-0485, and use airport code DUJ to inquire about flights leaving DuBois.