Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport serves record number of July passengers
Aug 10, 2016, 11:53 AM
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
PHOENIX — July was a busy month a Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Record-setting busy, to be precise.
The airport announced Wednesday that it served 132,334 passengers in July, a record for the month and the eighth-busiest month in the facility’s history.
The July news comes after the airport also reported its busiest May and June on record.
While March is typically the busiest time of year, thanks to spring training and great weather, airport Interim Executive Director and CEO J. Brian O’Neill said a lot of Arizonans were looking to beat the summer heat and get out of town.
“July is a popular month for Valley residents to visit friends and family in other parts of the country,” he said in a press release. “Allegiant’s low fares and the unparalleled convenience of Gateway Airport make it just plain easy to escape the summer heat.”
Allegiant, the airport’s chief airline, flies to 38 destinations from Mesa-Gateway.
“A growing number of people are coming to the Valley through Gateway Airport,” Mesa Mayor John Giles, who also serves as chairman of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority, said in the same release. “These visitors bolster the local economy by spending money on hotels, in restaurants and enjoying all that the Valley has to offer.”
The airport said it is on track to serve more than 1.4 million passengers this year.