Passenger traffic at Huntsville International Airport has skyrocketed in recent months, an indication that the airport’s reputation for higher average fares is being whittled away by the community’s reception to expanded carrier service and new low-cost airlines, airport officials said.

It projects to Alabama's second-busiest airport possibly having its highest passenger traffic totals in more than a decade, according to Barbie Peek, the airport's director of business development.

"(The Huntsville community is) are stepping up," Peek said. "They are flying. They are using the service. And that's only going to breed more service. Success breeds success. And the growing markets today are the ones getting the new service."

Passenger traffic each month this year has increased at least 23.8 percent when compared to the same month in 2018, according to airport data. The best month so far was March when traffic increased by 29.8 percent over March 2018.

The airport saw similar increases at the end of 2018 with November and December traffic up 24 percent over the same months in 2017.

Altogether, the airport has seen an increase in traffic for 14 straight months.

That's a striking development, given that passenger traffic dropped 1.4 percent at the airport in 2017 and three other years had seen declines in traffic since 2012.

There are, of course, tangible reasons for the increase. Flight capacity at the airport has increased 23 percent since April 2018 through two new low-fare carriers – Silver and Frontier -- setting up shop in Huntsville as well as United and American airlines expanding their flight inventories to and from Chicago and Dallas, respectively.

Still, airport officials said that increase in capacity is being embraced by the Huntsville area. Peek said airlines are pleased with the response they have seen from those increases, which could lead to expansion of more services at the airport.

"The more capacity you have, the more options you have, the more competitive your fares are," Peek said. "It's just overall more competition. Naturally, our community is growing. You see that in every facet of business surrounding the region. The airlines are sitting up and taking notice about what's going on here."

Five commercial airlines operate out of Huntsville International – legacy brands American, Delta and United and low-cost carriers Frontier and Silver – with non-stop service to the following cities: Reagan National in Washington, Dulles in Washington, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston and Orlando.

With Huntsville's deep ties to the federal government, Washington is by far the most popular destination for travelers at the airport. With it's twice-weekly flights to Denver, Frontier has pushed the city up to No. 3 in the fourth quarter of 2018 in popularity for Huntsville travelers.

The airline business is data-driven, Peek said, and carrier investments in communities are based on evidence that the community can support that growth. United, for example, added 50 percent more seats to its inventory in Huntsville. American added, on average, two flights a day into and out of Huntsville.

And with that expansion being utilized, it could portend more growth. And Peek said airport officials are constantly in conversations with its carriers about expanding services or with new carriers about coming to Huntsville.

"You want to see existing carriers grow," Peek said. "You want to see them add more frequency and new destinations."

What destinations? Peek mentioned New Orleans would be popular and the increased traffic to Denver suggests more flights to Colorado might be feasible. Baltimore has been a top Huntsville destination in the past, Peek said, and every airport, of course, would love non-stop flights to vacation cities such as New York and Las Vegas.

For now, though, only about 30 percent of passenger traffic at the Huntsville airport are for leisure trips while 70 percent are business travelers.

"You would hope that you would have a little more balance," Peek said.

That also circles back to airfares. According to the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the average fare in Huntsville is $549 – which is $114 higher than the average fare in Birmingham and $209 higher than Nashville, the two primary airport alternatives for north Alabama travelers.

At this time last year, though, Peek said the average fare in Huntsville was $619.

It's not a favorite topic of conversation for airport officials -- who point out that airlines set the fares, not the airport. The heavy tilt toward business travelers also drives up the fares because they frequently book last-minute flights without regard to the savings of booking in advance.

"That's where we really get that bad perception and what makes this community go, 'I'm not even going to check Huntsville. I'm just going to drive,' airport spokeswoman Jana Kuner said. "It's thinking that wrong perception. We have those business travelers. They are booking last minute. They already have government rates that are already set. And that is going to be the top tier (fare).

"So if we have a $49 fare (on Frontier) to Denver but it's averaged with this huge fare, of course the average fare looks like this. It doesn't mean you can't fly inexpensively from here if you look."

Peek said one carrier said its average passenger in Huntsville books a flight less than 21 days before departure while another was less than 14 days. And those fares, she said, are going to be the most expensive.

Business travelers using government rates on flights are going to pay those rates regardless of when a flight is booked, Peek said, and that also contributes to the higher average fare.

"There is an influence on those fares by the business traveler, the last-minute traveler," she said. "It's that last-minute fare that impacts it."

To aid travelers looking for low airfares, the airport has established a free “Huntsville Hot Ticket” program where customers can get email updates on low fares, call airport operators designated to help customers searching for low fares or visit the website for an updated list of low fares.

The airport also works to maintain a high profile at community events in an effort to stay front-of-mind with travelers.

“Fares are going down, capacity’s going up, passengers are going up,” Peek said. “Those are all the right ingredients for us.”