Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport Manager Glen Kelly, left, discusses enplanement numbers during Tuesday’s Wood County Airport Authority meeting as authority President Bill Richardson, center, and member Dave Hines listen in the airport conference room.
WILLIAMSTOWN — November enplanement numbers at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport nearly matched last year’s as service provider Via Air saw only one outbound flight canceled during the month.
A 98 percent completion rate at the airport for the month resulted in 401 passengers flying out, just 10 less than the same period in 2016. And that was with some promotional $1 flights left over from the debut of the service in October 2016, airport Manager Glen Kelly said.
After recording just 243 in October, the recent numbers have Kelly feeling better about the company and future marketing efforts.
“I said, ‘You guys are kicking butt. Keep going,'” he said during Tuesday’s Wood County Airport Authority meeting. “‘If not, we won’t be able to help you as much as we’d like.'”
The airport recently engaged in digital marketing efforts to promote a spring break sale, and Kelly said weekend flights during the targeted period in March are already full. He wants to look at other promotions to draw additional passengers.
Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport Manager Glen Kelly speaks during Tuesday’s Wood County Airport Authority meeting in the airport conference room.
Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport Manager Glen Kelly speaks during Tuesday’s Wood County Airport Authority meeting in the airport conference room.
“If I can get another good month out of Via, I hope in January we can start talking about golf packages and stuff like that,” Kelly said.
The passengers that are flying out of the airport now aren’t just coming from Wood and surrounding counties, he said.
“Right now, over half the people we’ve got flying are coming from a lot further,” Kelly said, noting he spoke by phone with a prospective passenger from Kingwood, W.Va., and some people are driving from the Youngstown and Canton areas.
Kelly said he would like to add signage on the runway side of the airport so that passengers can quickly identify the airport.
“If we could get some hotel/motel (tax money from the county) and a little of our own, I think it would be great for people to be able to look out the window and know where they are,” authority member Terry Moore said.
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