A preliminary financial report released last month shows revenue and passenger counts both rose at Spokane International Airport in 2016 compared with 2015, again exceeding the airport’s projections for the year. 

Todd Woodard, director of marketing and pubic affairs for Spokane Airports, says looking ahead, the airport anticipates further gains in revenues this year due to increases in rental rates for terminal tenants, higher landing fees, and added revenues from parking and ground transportation.

Total combined revenue for Spokane International Airport, the Airport Business Park, and Felts Field last year was $33.1 million, surpassing projected revenue by about $1.7 million, the unaudited report says.

Spokane County and the city of Spokane jointly own and operate all three airport facilities. Woodard says an audited annual report for 2016 is being prepared for expected release this summer. 

Combined operating expenses in 2016 totaled $23.8 million, coming in just over $1 million lower than projected in the 2016 budget, the preliminary report says.

The total passenger count, which combines departing and arriving passenger counts, was 3.2 million, up 3.2 percent from a year earlier, marking the third year in a row that year-over-year passenger totals have increased. 

Prior to the three-year uptick, passenger counts had been on a downward trend since 2007, when they peaked at 3.5 million.

Alaska Airlines, with 674,643 departing passengers, had the highest lift in passenger traffic, with a 3.6 percent gain over the year-earlier count.

Woodard says increases in passengers last year were due to flight operations and seat capacity, “In 2016, flights operations were up 4.11 percent, and seats were up 3.86 percent in comparison to 2015,” he says.

He says the airport has budgeted for a 1 percent passenger increase for 2017. So far, it has continued to experience increasing passenger flow. 

“January 2017 came in at 5.2 percent above January 2016, and we do not have February’s numbers yet, so it appears we are still experiencing increasing passenger flow,” says Woodard. 

The report shows cargo tonnage coming in and out of Spokane International Airport reached a new high in 2016, coming in at 135,000 tons, 1.3 percent higher than last year’s total.

Arriving cargo totaling 54,995 tons exceeded the 2015 tonnage total almost 3 percent, while departing cargo totaling 79,750 tons, exceeded 2015 tonnage by just under 0.5 percent. 

Spokane International Airport’s revenue and expenses account for more than 92 percent of the total for the three Spokane airport facilities.

The Airport Business Park, which has 32 buildings and 23 tenants on 600 acres of land adjacent to Spokane International Airport, had 2016 operating income before depreciation of about $1.1 million, up from $379,000 in 2015.

Felts Field, the smaller of the Spokane airport facilities, had 2016 revenue that totaled about $734,000, and expenses totaled about $480,000, for a net gain of $254,000, an improvement over a year-earlier gain of $83,600. 

Top sources of revenue for Spokane International Airport include parking, airline terminal rents, car rentals, commercial building and land leases, airline landing fees, and concessions.

For 2016, airfield revenue increased 9 percent over 2015, an increase Woodard says is mainly due the rise in passenger counts and increased landed weights.

 “Weights were up 3.1 percent over budget,” says Woodard. “Landing fee rates increased from $1.72 to $1.98 per 1,000 pounds of landed weight.  We budgeted for that increase, but the increase in actual landed weights being over the forecast from the airlines pushed results higher than what was budgeted.” 

Woodard says revenues were also affected by an increase in parking revenue, which was up 7.1 percent over 2015. 

Although there were no rate increases at the airport’s parking lots last year, Woodard says there were several parking maintenance and construction projects, including the construction of a parking operations building and the realignment of one of the airport’s surface lots. 

He says last year also saw a reorganization of the airport’s ground transportation to organize more effectively passengers’ access to taxis, shuttles, and transport network company services like Uber and Lyft.

“This year, there won’t be any increase in parking rates, but we anticipate an increase in passenger traffic, and that along with continued promotion of our parking products will contribute to increased parking revenue,” Woodard says. “Better tracking of ground transportation providers is also projected to increase revenue.”

While there is no planned change in regular parking rates this year, the airport will be increasing its ground transportation fee from $1.00 per trip to $1.50 per trip starting July 1. 

Woodard says the airport also saw an increase in terminal revenues last year, which came in at 3.8 percent above budget for 2016. 

“Those revenues were driven by the increase in passenger count, as well as revenues from rental cars, food, beverage and retail concessions, which came in 15.7 percent above budget,” he says. 

This year, the airport also plans to increase terminal lease rates by 4 percent, up to $50.82 per square foot a year, and landing fees also will increase 4.5 percent, moving to $2.06 per 1,000 pounds of landed weight.

Woodard says that the airport also accomplished several customer service initiatives last year, including improvements to its cell phone parking waiting lot, the realignment and reconstruction of a portion of Flint Road to improve access to the airport’s rental car return, and the reorganization of its ground transportation providers.

He says in 2017, the airport plans a new initiative that would add payment kiosks in the terminal, allowing longer-term parkers to pay inside and clear the exit lanes quicker.  

In regard to capital improvement projects, Woodard says the airport already completed its terminal area project to upgrade explosive detection systems and improve the airport’s checked baggage resolution areas, and is still working to complete a project that would replace the terminal’s elevators.

He says last month, the airport board approved an amendment to increase the passenger facility charges collected and used on those two projects, in order to facilitate their completion. 

Woodard says additional capital improvement projects planned for this year include the construction of a convenience store near the airport’s economy lot and the completion of the South Pilot Ramp Rehabilitation project.

The 2017 combined budget for the three Spokane airport facilities projects revenue of $33.2 million. 

The 2017 budget projects 6 percent growth in revenue due to a modest increase in rental rates for terminal tenants and an increase in landing fees, combined with continued parking and ground transportation revenue increases.

Operating expenses, not including depreciation, are projected to increase 6.9 percent over the 2016 budget to $26.9 million. The primary causes for the increase over the 2016 budget are increases in building and equipment maintenance, and grounds costs which include snow removal and pavement de-icing measures.