Higher prices and reduced flights combined to drop the Medford airport's passenger count in August by 4.6 percent compared with the same period the previous year.
The four airlines flying into the Rogue Valley reported 61,753 travelers passed through the gates in August, down from the 2010 total of 64,743. Despite that, the airport logged its third-busiest August for commercial carriers. The all-time August record of 65,427 was set in 2007, which remains the airport's best-ever year.
The end of United Express' northbound flights in February continued to undercut year-over-year comparisons, while Allegiant Air's declining numbers underscored the impact of higher fuel costs on leisure travel.
"Prices continue to increase on airfares and there are fewer seats because airlines are cutting routes and flights," said Chuck Brook of Travel Express in Medford. "It just hasn't been consumer friendly for a long time. That, in conjunction with people not having as much expendable income, is the reason numbers are dropping."
While nearly twice as many people used the airport than in the early 1990s, that can be attributed to population growth and travelers choosing the lesser of two evils and flying out of Medford, Brook said.
"It used to be cost-effective to drive to Portland, Sacramento or San Francisco and fly," Brook said. "Even staying at a motel one night coming and going you would come out ahead. But it doesn't make sense any more with the cost of gas to drive down and back. Naturally, people would rather leave from somewhere close to home, too."
The airport logged 21 daily departures in August, one more than in 2010.
For the year, Medford has seen 417,269 travelers fly in and out of the valley, down nearly 2 percent.
"It's been a sucky summer with all the bad economic news," Airport Director Bern Case said. "We keep waiting for some good news, but if things don't turn around it's going to hurt the number because people are hesitant to fly then."
Nonetheless, Case said, simple mathematical projections indicate the airport could hit the 614,000-passenger mark by year's end. That would be the fourth time in the past five years the airport surpasses 600,000.
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