Airport leaders try to land cargo business in China

Passenger traffic up 3.8% for May, 1.8% year to date

In an effort to persuade Asian carriers to use Huntsville as a gateway for air cargo in the southeastern United States, Huntsville International Airport officials traveled last month to China to the home offices of seven carriers to make their case.

"We've still got a long way to go, but I'm confident we got their attention," said Mitch Bradley, director of the International Intermodal Center. Bradley made the trip with Jeff Sikes, chairman of the Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority, and Rick Tucker, the airport's executive director.

The meetings with the carrier executives took place May 28-June 1.

"We've opened the door for them to look at the Huntsville option," Bradley said. "We got positive feedback from some of the carriers," and marketing personnel from the U.S. offices of three of the carriers plan visits here.

At its meeting Tuesday, the airport authority approved a budget for fiscal 2008, which starts in July. The budget projects $27.3 million in revenue and $22.7 million in expenditures for airport operations, the Jetplex Industrial Park and Sheraton hotel.

Tucker reported that airport passenger traffic in May increased 3.8 percent from a year earlier. January through May, passenger traffic increased 1.8 percent, compared with the same period in 2006.

"United has played a role" in the increasing number of air travelers, said Barbie Peek, the airport's marketing director. United Airlines launched direct flights from Huntsville to Denver International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport this year.

She told the authority that the airport is hosting in late June representatives of a low-fare carrier that is considering adding new nonstop destinations.

"We need more capacity in our market," Peek said. "It impacts our fares."