A growing number of travelers in the region are choosing to begin their trips from Northwest Arkansas National Airport over other airports.

A new analysis of federal data by Volaire Aviation Consulting shows XNA retained 78% of the airline passengers who live in the airport’s so-called “catchment area.” The area includes most of nine counties in Northwest Arkansas, three in southwest Missouri and two more in eastern Oklahoma.

A 2015 study showed XNA was keeping about 62% of travelers, and that figure improved to 66% in 2018. A study of 2019 data showed XNA kept 74% of travelers.

The data reviewed in the most recent analysis was from July 2024 through June this year.

XNA’s airlines, which have expanded their nonstop flight options, played an important role in XNA’s ability to capture more passengers.

The expanded nonstop options from XNA, and they include daily trips to Salt Lake City (Delta Air Lines), Detroit (Delta) and Philadelphia (American Airlines).

XNA’s top competition for passengers comes from Tulsa International Airport, which in the most recent analysis saw 7% of the travelers who live in the catchment area. That means 285 people a day made the drive to Tulsa before flying.

It’s a vast improvement over 2018 when Tulsa grabbed 17%, or about 506 people a day.

XNA’s improvement could also be related to the cost of travel.

In the 12-month period that ended in June this year, XNA’s average fare was $438 vs. Tulsa’s $400. In 2018, the fare difference between Tulsa ($330) and XNA ($522) was $192.

There are disadvantages to living in Arkansas and flying from Tulsa that include the two-hour drive to and from the city as well as the cost of driving that far.

If there’s an advantage Tulsa has over XNA it’s the service of Southwest Airlines, which has provided routes from Tulsa since 1980. Southwest has never served XNA.