Airports scramble to keep traffic up

摘要

The recession has put even more pressure on airports to attract services where possible - particularly low-fare ones -or at least retain incumbent carriers. Holding costs down while keeping services up is the first requirement. Many North American airports are also being increasingly creative in providing incentives for new routes. The best ones market both themselves and their airlines very innovatively. Ohio's Akron-Canton had a record traffic year in 2008, and April 2009 traffic was up 7% from the same month a year ago. "Our goal is another record-breaking year," says senior vice-president and chief marketer Kristie Van Auken. She attributes growth to "a product mix stacked with low-fares".