Air Travel Down, Freight Flights Up | Business

If you boarded a plane at Spokane International Airport in 2011, you may have noticed you had a little more elbow room.  According to Todd Woodard with the SIA,  air travel was down by 2.91 percent from 2010.  In 2010, 2.9 million passengers traveled through the Spokane.  In 2011, the airport reports 2.8 million passengers boarded and unloaded planes.  However, in November air travel was up from the year before with .64 percent more people flying the friendly skies.

"While our community has experienced the results of a nationwide daily capacity re-balancing by scheduled passenger airlines, we were optimistic based on observations that would trend in a positive manner," said Lawrence Krauter CEO of the Spokane Air Board.

The airport also reports a 25 percent increase in freight and mail in 2011, with 4,772 tons traveling  down the runways.