BWI Reports Record Passenger Numbers In 2012

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Another milestone is reached for the region's busiest airport. BWI-Marshall is reporting record passenger and shipping numbers for 2012.

Tim Williams has more on why airport business keeps soaring.

Ticket sales taking off at BWI-Marshall Airport means more passengers are boarding than ever before.

"BWI is the airport that my wife and I pretty much always fly in and out of," said passenger Nicolas Atancio.

Atancio travels to see family in New York. Convenience is a major factor.

For some others, sweet deals and prices are the reason this airport gets their business.

"Prices are good. We can get one-way, round-trip, non-stop," said one passenger.

BWI's ongoing success is also non-stop.

"We just finished our busiest year ever here at BWI, moving over 22.7 million passengers. Just a fantastic growth for us," said BWI Executive Director Paul Wiedefeld.

It's the third straight year for record traffic at the airport; 2012 saw an increase in commercial traffic by 1.3 percent over the year before. Largest carrier Southwest combined with AirTran to carry about 71 percent of BWI's travelers.

"Right in the history of the airport, we just moved a half billion people," Wiedefeld said.

And with more traffic comes more cargo, so part of the record numbers is more shipping to more destinations.

"Cargo was up actually 3.7 percent over last year," Wiedefeld said. "The nation as a whole, it was flat."

International service saw the biggest gains.

Airport managers anticipate 2013 will be another record year, largely due to the addition of more domestic and tropical destinations.