11/02/12, 23:29:27 EST

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Start-up airline's business growing

myrtlebeachonline.com

The number of people flying with Myrtle Beach's newest start-up air service continues to grow, surprising even its top executives and helping boost figures at Myrtle Beach International Airport.

The airport boasted more than 91,000 passengers flying into the beach in August from nine airlines, up 14.3 percent over 2006, a down year.

Myrtle Beach Direct Air & Tours, which began flying in March, lifted its numbers to more than 5,300 passengers in August, from more than 4,800 in July. That makes it the fourth-largest carrier in the market.

Spirit Airlines continued to dominate the market, bringing in more than 32,500 passengers.

Judy Tull, CEO of Myrtle Beach Direct, nearly squeaked with excitement as she described what happened when reservation lines opened last week to take bookings for next year.

"I couldn't believe it, but we got bookings on our books for next September and October," she said, speaking on her cell phone from St. Petersburg, Fla., where she had just announced new direct flights from the Clearwater, Fla., airport to Myrtle Beach.

Pittsburgh was the big winner for the company. Planes flew at 96 percent capacity, she said. The business plan was based on keeping planes 75 percent full, and overall they were at around 85 percent full.

Tull said the company had its fingers crossed that it would hit the 5,000 mark.

The company is still awaiting a decision from the federal government on a grant that would allow it to expand to other cities, though Tull said she does not want to move too quickly.

"We want to make sure as we do it we have our costs in line," she said.

Mega-quick growth was one factor in the demise of Hooters Air, said Tull, who also worked for the short-lived company. Hooters reached a peak of more than 11,000 passengers into Myrtle Beach in July 2005 before it folded in April 2006.

Rounding off the top four companies in August are

US Airways, bringing more than 27,000 passengers in, and Delta and its partners, with nearly 13,500 passengers.

The overall numbers in August are slightly down from July, in keeping with past trends. They tend to dip again in September, rise in October, then plummet as winter advances.

 Printable Version  | published Sep 23, 2007