Lafayette Airport Commission (LAC) Chairman Paul Segura reports that passenger activity at Lafayette Regional Airport (LFT) last year set a new all-time record for the number of passengers. A total of 530,501 passengers flew into and out of the airport in 2019, topping the previous number of 501,101 set in 2014.

“2019 was an incredible year, boosted by the addition of Frontier Airlines and their seasonal flights,” says LAC Chairman Paul Segura. “We’re grateful to the travelers of Acadiana who flew Lafayette this past year. Without their support, a record-setting year would not have been possible. As a commission and staff, we look for ways to improve the travel experience from LFT in any way we can and will continue to do so. Hopefully, we will see another great year in 2020 as we move closer to the opening of the New LFT Terminal.”

LFT Executive Director Steven Picou says there were several contributing factors that made 2019 a record-setting year. “We had additional air service options for most of the year and, in some cases, larger aircraft made more seats available,” says Picou. “Load factors, the number of seats occupied verses the number of seats available on flights, were high all year across all the airlines.”

To close out the year, in December a total of 43,201 passengers chose LFT. Load factors continued to be high in December for all three carriers. Leading the way was Delta Airlines/Atlanta with 86.7 percent of seats filled, followed by United Airlines/Houston with 73.6 percent and American Eagle/Dallas with 70.2 percent.

Cargo numbers for 2019 were impressive as well. A total of 8,157,365 pounds of cargo were loaded on planes and 19,444,023 was off loaded from planes, which was also the most ever on record.

Frontier Airlines has informed Lafayette Regional Airport (LFT) they will not return to the Lafayette market. The airline had initially indicated that it would resume seasonal service at LFT in the Spring of 2020. Frontier stated to LFT Executive Director Steven Picou that the demand for their service was insufficient to continue. In 2019, Frontier had 40,682 passengers at LFT and provided direct service to Orlando, FL and Denver, CO.

In an email to Picou, a Frontier Analyst with Network Planning says, “Unfortunately, there was not enough demand for our product to warrant the investment of aircraft time. We will continue to monitor opportunities going forward, so please feel free to keep us updated with information that could help justify future service.”

“We appreciate the service Frontier provided,” says Picou. “While it is disappointing to hear of this decision, it is not uncommon in the airline industry. It is a very dynamic model, and airlines do what makes the best business sense for them. We will continue to explore new
opportunities with other airlines and seek more direct destinations on existing airlines.”