Two airlines recorded their best monthly numbers ever at Northwest Arkansas National Airport, according to new data from the airport.
The 24,798 Delta Air Lines passengers and 18,222 Allegiant Air passengers helped make July the second-busiest month in the airport’s history.
The airport in July saw 123,993 passengers overall. June this year was the only bigger month with 125,189.
Delta’s big month
Delta has benefitted from expanding its offerings at XNA in the past year. It started a new daily nonstop to Detroit in November, and it followed that up with a daily nonstop to Salt Lake City, giving Delta its only flight to one of its western hubs. Those new offerings factored into Delta topping 20,000 passengers in four of the past five months.
Most of the airline’s flights go to the company’s largest hub in Atlanta. It also offers daily service from XNA to Minneapolis/St. Paul and New York LaGuardia.
Allegiant always swells in July
Allegiant, which offers twice-a-week nonstop flights to destinations that include Las Vegas, Orlando/Sanford and Destin, was XNA’s first low-cost carrier, arriving at the airport in mid-2009. While it offers service to its core destinations all year long, its uptick in the summer months always keeps its flights full when school isn’t in session.
Starting off with those twice-a-week flights to Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Orlando/Sanford in its earliest years, it’s expanded in recent years by going to Nashville, St. Petersburg/Clearwater and Phoenix/Mesa. Its most recent addition from XNA was Gulf Shores, an airport in Alabama that didn’t have commercial service until Allegiant started its flights to XNA and a small cluster of other cities in May.
Prior to July’s record month, Allegiant had eclipsed 15,000 passengers just four times: June this year (17,837); July 2022 (16,020); July 2024 (15,320); and July 2023 (15,219).
Reliable American numbers
The airport’s other top performer in recent months has been American Airlines, which carries about half of all XNA’s passengers each year.
The airline’s best month ever came in June when it carried 58,661 people. It’s topped 55,000 passengers in each of the past three months.
Prior to last year, when it topped 50,000 passengers in a month four times, it had never exceeded 50,000.
