Boardings up at Fort Wayne International Airport during 2012

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Boardings at Fort Wayne International Airport were up for 2012, according to officials with the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority.  Boardings were up 2.35 percent to approximately 284.465 passengers that year.

Other airports in Indiana were not as fortunate.  Indianapolis saw a 2.2 percent decrease, and South Bend, where the numbers only go through November, had a 2.15 percent decrease.

"The airlines have taken a significant amount of capacity out of the system," Scott Hinderman, the executive director of the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority, said Tuesday.  "In Fort Wayne as well.  We have loss some seats, if you will, in 2012.  However, the traveler has continued to use Fort Wayne.  I'm not sure if it's a pricing mechanism, but I can't speak to why people aren't getting on, or why there are decreases at those airports."

A couple passengers traveling through FWA Tuesday morning said why they chose to fly out of Fort Wayne.

"I fly out of Fort Wayne because it's convenient," said Michelle Godschalk, who lives in Fort Wayne.  "People are friendly.  There's no line for security.  There's not as many flights out of Indy as there used to be."

Godschalk said she flies in and out of FWA frequently.

"It wasn't any more expensive to fly out of Fort Wayne, then it was out of Indianapolis, said Tina Fox, who was flying back home to Louisiana.  "And it was a two-hour drive to Indianapolis.  So it's easier to go to Fort Wayne, and the same price."

Hinderman also credited the airport's convenience to people in the region.

"While our fares might be higher than some of the larger airports, the difference in price isn't all the significant," he said.  "As opposed to driving, then flying, it's easier to fly through your local airport, Fort Wayne.  Then when you are home, you are really home, opposed to having to drive two more hours."

Another reason for the increase can be tracked down to a new flight in 2012.

"We actually started flying to Punta Gorda-Fort Myers area last June," Hinderman said.  "That's a good part of it.  Also, the business climate is still strong, and there's a lot of activity at our airport.  Business people are using our facility to travel to their place of business."

Hinderman said the number of boardings is the largest the airport had seen since 2007.