Northwest Arkansas National Airport continued to see strong passenger traffic in August, with 108,726 people boarding flights, according to figures reported by airport administrators.
The August numbers come as XNA continues to handle substantial passenger volumes and expand the air service available to Northwest Arkansas residents. Through the first eight months of 2026, the airport has continued to see strong demand for air travel from the region.
The 108,726 people who flew last month allowed XNA to eke out an increase compared to the number of people who flew in August 2025 (108,554).
XNA averages about 50 flights a day and offers nonstop service to major U.S. metros, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York/Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Tampa and Washington, D.C.
The airport is served by six airlines: Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Breeze Airways, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines and United Airlines.
What’s uncertain is how massive increases in fuel prices will impact future flight schedules at XNA.
While information XNA received showed airlines adding passenger capacity in the coming months when compared to the same months in 2025, a Sept. 22 article in Yahoo Finance showed American and United are among the airlines reducing their schedules nationwide.
Those reductions, which are being focused on the least profitable routes, are occurring because airlines expect to pay an extra $1 billion to purchase fuel in the fourth quarter of this year. In the article, American’s CEO indicated a 1 cent per gallon increase in the fuel price costs the airline about $10 million per quarter.
While the high fuel prices will remain a major headache for airlines, United’s new nonstop flight to Newark took off for the first time on Thursday and that’s good news for XNA and the region.
Most new nonstops lead to more people traveling to that destination, and that should be especially true for United’s trip to Newark because it provides a new way to get to New York City. A consultant’s review of XNA-focused travel data from April 1, 2025 to March 30, 2026 showed XNA’s No. 1 destination was New York/Newark (184 passengers a day) followed by Chicago (154) and Los Angeles (138).
