Corpus Christi International Airport Recovery Outpacing the National Average
CCIA Traffic and Capacity Increasing. Customer Preference for CCIA Going Up.
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – At today’s regularly scheduled City Council meeting, Corpus Christi Mayor Joe McComb and the City Council received a progress report regarding how the Corpus Christi International Airport (CCIA) is recovering faster than the national average in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Since April, CCIA has seen a steady increase in traffic each month. In September, more than half of CCIA’s pre-COVID traffic had returned to flying. Nationwide, less than one third of traffic has returned. Seventy-five percent of CCIA’s seats and flights have returned in the current November schedule.
During an update to the City Council today, Assistant Director Kevin Smith laid out some of the action taken by the airport staff to weather the downturn and to stimulate continued traffic growth in the future. Among the highlights:
- CCIA has partnered with Visit Corpus Christi and is engaging airline planners in discussions about the vitality and resilience of this region
- CCIA launched a digital marketing campaign reaching local customers on-line as they actively make travel plans. The goal is to grow customer preference for CCIA
- CCIA has installed new technology to enhance cleaning and disinfecting
- CCIA is planning a multi-year terminal rehabilitation to replace critical, aging equipment and to modernize the flow of people, luggage, and security processes
- The airport is moving forward with federally funded construction projects to improve the commercial and general aviation aprons (aircraft movement and parking areas)
- CCIA will purchase a new aircraft rescue firefighting truck later this year that will be paid for with federal funds
“As more and more people become comfortable with flying again, our numbers at CCIA continue moving in the right direction,” said Kevin Smith, Assistant Director of Aviation at CCIA. “The airlines are still going through hard times, but we are actively working with them to create new opportunities for this community in the future,” said Smith.