Dallas/Fort Worth Airport reached a milestone this month, adding its 200th destination when American Eagle announced that it was starting service to Zacatecas, Mexico.
"This puts us up there with Beijing and Dubai," Luis Perez, DFW's vice president of air service development, told the airport board at its monthly meeting Thursday, noting that only a few airports worldwide can claim over 200 destinations."Two hundred is a big win for DFW Airport, and, of course, we would like to keep increasing that number," he said.DFW is only the third U.S. airport with more than 200 destinations, after Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta and Chicago O'Hare.Perez also told the board that DFW served 4.65 million passengers in January, up 6.8 percent from January 2012.The increase came when American Airlines added back capacity as it works through its bankruptcy restructuring.American reported a 5 percent increase in passengers in January, with 3.9 million travelers.Low-cost carriers increased their DFW traffic by 31.2 percent to 516,082 as Spirit Airlines added several destinations in the past year.With the addition of Emirates Airlines and Cayman Airways, international passengers have also increased, up 13.7 percent to 516,082 in January.Separately, the board approved the hiring of SpencerStuart, an executive search firm, to help find a replacement for airport Chief Executive Jeff Fegan, who is retiring in September.The board approved the leasing of 35 acres in Coppell to AV CAL Properties to build a 524,800-square-foot warehouse for Fresenius Medical Care Co.Fresenius is a dialysis services provider based in Hamburg, Germany.The building will cost about $21 million, and the initial ground rent will be $480,000, airport staff said.Staffers also briefed the board on the airport's contract with its on-site valet business.Since 2009, DFW Airport Valet has increased its revenue from $2 million to almost $14 million in the last fiscal year.The staff recommended that the board extend its agreement with DFW Airport Valet from 2014 to 2018 and said the service is helping alleviate parking congestion caused by the terminal renovation project.The staff also recommended extending the permits of off-airport valet services to 2018.Andrea Ahles, 817-390-7631Twitter: @Sky_TalkHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
