CPR Sees Another Passenger Increase in October

October was a good month for Casper-Natrona County International Airport, but the last couple of months haven’t been as good as expected.

The airport saw a nearly eight percent increase in the number of its departing passengers last month when compared to figures from October of last year.

Airport manager Glenn Januska says, though he’s generally pleased with the October numbers, rising airfares may be causing recent sluggish passenger increases.

“We were expecting a little bit of a higher percentage increase in passengers than what we’ve been seeing, and what I’ve been hearing from people was that airfares have been creeping up higher than what they have been in the past,” Januska said.

“So, we’ve been working with a consultant to kind of look at how our airfares compare to other similar-sized airports.”

Januska says he’s hoping the consulting firm can give airport officials solid numbers they can present to airlines like United and Delta.

“We’re going to try to give them an opportunity to say, ‘Yeah, we agree with you, we haven’t been paying as much attention to the fares in Casper than we should have been,'” Januska said.

Januska says, however, with Allegiant Air resuming its Casper service to Las Vegas on Friday, airport officials are expecting healthy year-end passenger figures.

“It’s good to see a good, strong October, and with Allegiant starting up its Las Vegas service again, we’re looking at having a positive end to the year,” Januska said. “We’re really excited about it."

The airport has seen a 14 percent year-to-date passenger increase.