Rice Business Report September 2019 September 2019 Rice Business Report | Page 26

Rice Business Report September 2019
Bush Intercontinental, Hobby set passenger record
By Andrea Leinfelder
Updated 4:06 pm CDT, Monday, August 5, 2019
The Houston Airport System had 29.6 million passengers departing, arriving or connecting through Hou-
ston in the first half of 2019.
That's up 4.3 percent from 28.4 million reported for the same period last year at Bush Intercontinental
and Hobby airports.
Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports last year saw a record 58.3 million travelers, the first year-
over-year uptick in traffic since the oil-price slump and Hurricane Harvey caused two years of modest
declines
Shaking off the effects of those setbacks, and buoyed by a strong national economy and the addition of
routes and flights by major airlines serving Houston, combined passenger traffic at the airports was up
7.6 percent from 2017 levels. The trend has airport officials and analysts optimistic for 2019.
“We anticipate this growth to continue,” said Ian Wadsworth, chief commercial officer for the Houston
Airport System, which manages both airports as well as Ellington Airport/Houston Spaceport
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