Northwest Florida Beaches airport sees 3rd year-over-year passenger dip in a row in July

Nathan Cobb, The News Herald
·2 min read

PANAMA CITY BEACH — For the third month in a row, passenger numbers at the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP) were down from the same time last year.

According to an activity report released Tuesday by the airport, the facility serviced 173,929 passengers in July 2022 compared with 203,434 passengers in July 2021. This is a decline of more than 14%, which trails approximately 13% dips in both May and June.

With these three months, total passenger numbers at the airport between the beginning of January to end of July were down about 2% from the same period in 2021.

July was the third month in a row that the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport in Bay County serviced fewer passengers than in 2021.
July was the third month in a row that the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport in Bay County serviced fewer passengers than in 2021.

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However, Parker McClellan, ECP executive director, said he is not concerned because year-to-date and monthly numbers for 2022 still are higher than in 2019, which was the airport's busiest year before 2021 took that title with pent-up travel demands sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The thing to keep in mind is we're still up 32% over 2019," McClellan said. "We don't see a concern that our numbers are down (from 2021) based on everything that's happening in the world and the economy today."

He said the numbers show the airport is settling back into a more steady growth pattern.

McClellan also has said he believes two main factors are causing the decline in passengers over recent months: a decrease in travel demand and ongoing inflation that has caused ticket prices to spike.

ECP is located North of Panama City Beach in unincorporated Bay County.

"We think that what happening is we're finding more of what that new level is going to be," McClellan said. "I don't want to call it a new normal because I'm not sure what the new normal is.

"We think things are going to level out, and we're going to come back to a more traditional growth (like) we've had since the airport opened in 2010."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: ECP airport in Panama City Beach sees dip in passengers for 3rd year