Hilton Head, Savannah airports operating despite empty planes, decrease in travelers
The Hilton Head Island and Savannah airports are seeing a large drop in travelers but are continuing with flights, airport officials said Wednesday.
“The fog is lifted and the sun is shining, so the airplanes are flying,” Beaufort County airports director Jon Rembold said. But he added that Hilton Head Island Airport is reporting a large decrease in the numbers of passengers.
Some flights out of the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport have left empty, said Savannah Airport Commission executive director Greg Kelly.
FEWER PEOPLE FLYING
Airlines use load factors to measure the percentage of available seating capacity that’s filled. For a flight with a capacity of 10, a load factor of 50% would mean there are passengers in five of the 10 available seats.
Load factors at the Hilton Head Island airport have “been very low” recently, dropping down into the 30% range, Rembold said.
Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport has seen about a 20% decrease between last week and this week, Kelly said.
He said the Savannah airport’s load factor is at 40% this week, and the national average for airports is between 40% to 70% right now.
Both airport officials said they anticipate cuts in the coming weeks.
“Airplanes are departing empty,” Kelly said, noting that it’s likely caused by people being advised to stay away from large groups while airlines are told to continue operating.
Airlines are looking for places to park empty planes. So far, about 40 are being kept at Savannah.
Despite the unusually low amount of travelers, the Hilton Head airport has not had any commercial flight cancellations, and Savannah has had “minimal.”
CONTINUING TO OPERATE
Both airports will remain open, Rembold and Kelly said.
Rembold recommended that the staff, which has already been cleaning more often, be “conspicuous” when cleaning major touch points.
“We want to make sure the public is confident when they come in, Rembold said. “It helps to put people’s minds at ease.”
Although numbers may not be optimistic, Rembold said he’s expecting Hilton Head to “rebound quickly.”
“We’re going to be ready for that as well.”
