=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2004/05/01/s= tate1443EDT0057.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday, May 1, 2004 (AP) LAX passengers increase in sign post-Sept. 11 slump is ending (05-01) 11:43 PDT LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The number of passengers using Los Angeles International Airport jumped significantly in March in a sign that the facility could finally be recovering from a slump that began with the Sept. 11 attacks. The double-digit increase in travelers in March, the largest year-over-year gain since December 1994, could mean a busy summer as discount airlines fly more planes out of the airport, one of the busiest in the nation, experts said Friday. With carriers adding flights, the number of passengers soared 11.3 perce= nt to 4.9 million in March, compared to 4.4 million in the same period a year ago, according to airport statistics. From January to March, passenger traffic rose to 13.6 million, a 6 perce= nt increase from the first quarter last year. "The three-year decline that we've experienced since 9/11 is finally reversing itself," said Paul Haney, a spokesman for the city agency that operates the airport. "People are feeling that short of something really catastrophic, like another SARS outbreak, or another terrorist attack, that the recovery is underway." Airport officials and aviation experts attribute the comeback to the improving economy and cheaper fares offered by discount carriers. LAX was one of the airports that was hurt after the 2001 attacks because carriers reduced flights until they had more passengers. Many travelers who wanted to escape long security checks used smaller airports, including Ontario International Airport and John Wayne Airport. Last year, LAX was hurt by the start of the Iraq war and the outbreak of the SARS respiratory virus in Asia. The number of daily nonstop flights from LAX to several airports that serve New York City has returned to levels before the 2001 attacks. There are also more international flights, including American Airlines' daily nonstop flights to Tokyo's Narita International Airport, added last month. While more flights will be added during the summer, carriers will feel a financial pinch, one analyst said. "The industry as a whole will see passenger volumes quite similar to the summer of 2000, which looks good," said Robert W. Mann Jr., president of the consulting firm R.W. Mann & Co.. "On the other hand, what customers are paying is on the order of 15 percent less, on average, than in 2000. So, while customers as a whole will probably be way up, revenue will lag, as it has since 2001," he said. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 AP