Atlantic City airport gaining traffic EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) =97 A decision by Delta Airlines to launch=20 service from Atlantic City International Airport has significantly=20 increased passenger traffic there, according to two recent surveys. Late=20 last year, Delta launched service from Atlantic City to its hub in=20 Cincinnati, where passengers can access flights anywhere in the airline's=20 system. Delta drew almost 16,000 passengers during its first three months=20 of operation. A survey by the trade publication Aviation Daily, comparing a= =20 week in April with a similar week in 2002, found Atlantic City with a gain= =20 of 87 percent, combining number of seats and flights as well as the number= =20 of stops. A second survey, commissioned by the Wall Street Journal, showed= =20 a 35% increase in seats and a 40% increase in flights over the same week in= =20 2002. Analysts caution against reading too much into the statistics,=20 especially as they apply to smaller airports. "A decision by one or two airlines can have a dramatic effect on one=20 airport," Steven Lott, Aviation Daily business editor, told the=20 Courier-Post of Cherry Hill. Nevertheless, the service changes reflect a=20 larger nationwide trend. By switching to smaller 50-seat jets at the=20 regional level, airlines have fewer seats to fill and less upkeep expense.= =20 "The concept of regional air service is catching on as an alternative to=20 using city airports like Philadelphia where the processing time takes too=20 long," Gary Israel, spokesman for the South Jersey Transportation=20 Authority, said. Most of the traffic through Atlantic City is not from=20 gamblers, but from residents and business people from Gloucester, Camden,=20 Burlington, Cape May and Monmouth counties. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.cso.gov.tt TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************