Wilmington International Airport had record year in 2016

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A record number of passengers passed through Wilmington International Airport last year.

According to a news release, 817,896 passengers flew in or out of ILM in 2016. That’s up from 769,809 in 2015, which marks a 6.2-percent increase. The airport’s old record was set in 2010, when ILM served 799,710 passengers.

The airport’s numbers are based on passengers who purchased a ticket. That means even more passengers may have used the airport with a non-revenue tickets, like a frequent flyer ticket or an airline’s flight benefit, the news release says.

Compared to 2015, the number of passengers flying out of ILM was up 6.6 percent. The number of arriving passengers increased 5.9 percent year-to-year.

The airport says airlines use this sort of data to decide the need for larger airplanes or additional flights.

“American and Delta Airlines recognized the strong market in the greater Wilmington area, and they added larger aircraft with more seats to carry additional passengers to and from ILM,” Airport Director Julie Wilsey said in the release. “The increased seat capacity was timely; aligning well with statistics that show the tri-county area is one of the fastest growing regions in the country and local tourism is at an all-time high.”

According to the airport, a NCDOT Division of Aviation study found ILM had a $1.6 billion economic impact on the region. The airport says it expects the division’s next study will show an even larger impact.

American currently serves ILM with flight to Charlotte, Philadelphia and New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Delta flies between Wilmington and its hub in Atlanta. The airport lost non-stop service to Washington, DC, when American merged with US Airways. In 2013 Allegiant ended its flights from Wilmington to Orlando. The decision came just months after American stopped its flights from Wilmington to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.