Press Releases

BATON ROUGE, LA – Passenger volume at the Baton Rouge Metro Airport (BTR) was up 14.7% in June 2023 compared to the same month last year with 66,827 total passengers flying in and out of the airport. The airport’s year-to-date passenger count through June is up 16.5% at 360,584. American Airlines carried the highest share of BTR passengers in June at 44%, followed by Delta at 37.4% and United at 18.6%.

BTR passenger numbers are near pre-pandemic levels, with June volume at 93.30% of June 2019 numbers. The new American Airlines nonstop flights to Washington Reagan Airport (DCA) contributed 3400 to June’s passenger count. The load factor, or percentage of seats filled, for the DCA flights in June was 74.0%. Though below the BTR load factor average of 85.0% for all flights, airport officials noted that the DCA load factor was respectable for the first month of service; and that they anticipate continued growth in community support for the route.

Based on current schedules, airline seating capacity at BTR is up 22% for the second half of 2023 compared to the same period last year, which is within 2% of 2019 capacity. The higher BTR capacity is a result of increased flight frequencies and aircraft upgauges such as Delta’s addition of mainline Boeing 717s at BTR.    

The increase in passenger volume at BTR facilitates area growth in jobs and economic activity, helping sustain BTR’s annual economic impact of $1.1 billion and nearly 4,500 direct and indirect jobs. Additionally, the increase in passenger volume contributes to revenue growth for BTR, which operates as an enterprise fund and generates its own revenues for operations as opposed to using local tax dollars.

BTR Media Contact: Jim Caldwell

Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport

jcaldwell@brla.gov

Phone 225-355-0333