GREEN, Ohio – The Akron-Canton Airport expects to lose up to $1.8 million over the next three months as fewer passengers travel and some trips are temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, the airport reported this week.

The airport saw a 50% decrease in passengers during the week of March 16, at a time when it had the capacity to transport 9% more passengers than last year, according to the report.

Eight of CAK’s 13 nonstop routes have been significantly impacted by reductions in seats or suspension of service due to concerns about the virus. The airport’s lineup of flights scheduled for April shows 25% fewer seats than April 2019.

Due to the drop in traffic, the airport projects it will lose $624,000 to $1.8 million over the next three months, “with the latter being the most likely scenario.”

Based on Airports Council International - North America (ACI-NA) projections, U.S. airports are expected to lose at least $13.9 billion in 2020.

At Akron-Canton, major changes include:

American Airlines: LaGuardia (LGA) daily service has been reduced temporarily to one day a week, a loss of 224 seats per week.

Delta: A smaller aircraft is in use for trips to Atlanta (ATL), a loss of 511 seats per week.

Spirit: Seasonal service to Ft. Myers (RSW) and Tampa (TPA) ended one month early, for respective losses of 580 and 435 seats per week.

United Airlines: Service to Newark (EWR) has canceled one month early, for a loss of 650 seats per week. Flights to Houston (IAH) are temporarily suspended until Oct. 1, 2020, for a loss of 532 seats per week. The launch of flights to Washington Dulles (IAD), scheduled for May, has been indefinitely suspended, for a loss of about 1,300 seats per week.

“As an economic engine in our region, we need to get on the other side of this pandemic to serve our community with the vibrant air service we know it deserves,” said Akron-Canton Airport President and CEO Ren Camacho. “When we do get to the other side, the landscape will likely look much different than before. That’s why we are working closely with our corporate partners and leisure travel agencies to relay pertinent travel information to our airlines to help shape that future.”

Camacho said no airport employees have been laid off. To offset some of the financial loss, the airport has started exploring other ways to generate revenue, including renting unused parking lots. Parking had already been the airport’s largest source of income, but it was directly tied to the number of people flying.

“The financial impact of COVID-19 has shocked the travel industry, but we are actively looking for ways to move forward, not only for CAK but also for our partners,” said Camacho. “We are exploring ways to make considerations for airlines, rental cars, advertising partners, and others while keeping our own operations running. We know our community will be traveling again once this illness has been eliminated, and we will be ready for that.”

More information about the Akron-Canton Airport’s efforts to promote health and safety during the COVID-19 outbreak can be found here.