OREANDA-NEWS. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport hosted 62.9 million passengers during fiscal year 2014, a new all-time high for the Airport. The Airport's new record figure for passengers improves on last year's figure of 60.2 million customers by 4.4 percent, and it surpasses the previous record year of fiscal year 2000 by 1.84 million customers, or three percent. The DFW Airport Board was briefed on the finalized figures as part of the year-end report for FY 2014 during today's Board meeting.

"We've been seeing good growth trends from our airline partners in all sectors of our passenger flights through the year, so our record year is great news for our region and our Airport," said Sean Donohue, CEO of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. "We have seen stronger DFW figures in domestic customers, international customers, as well as low cost carrier service, and we anticipate DFW will see more growth in the coming years."

While overall passenger traffic at DFW increased by 4.4 percent in 2014, international traffic at DFW grew at a higher rate of 6.1 percent, and low cost carrier traffic grew by 6.7 percent. By global region, DFW passenger traffic to Asia grew by 23.9 percent and to the Middle East grew by 21.3 percent, due mainly to new routes and expansion to those regions. Passenger traffic went up by 4.7% to Mexico, 8.3% to Canada, 3.5% to Europe and 3.2% to Central and South America.

DFW continues as one of only seven airports in the world offering service to more than 200 destinations. DFW this year saw the launch of new service to Shanghai and Hong Kong by American Airlines, as well as to Doha, Qatar by Qatar Airways, and to Abu Dhabi by Etihad Airways just this week. Also this year, Emirates Airline and Qantas Airways expanded their service from DFW to Dubai and Sydney, respectively, by adding the Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft in the world.

"DFW Airport is definitely seeing the dividend of years of work in attracting more international airline service to the Dallas/Fort Worth region," said Donohue. "With 25 new international routes, 18 of those to new international destinations gained over the past four years, our focus on attracting customers from around the globe is certainly winning the hearts and minds of international travelers. And those travelers bring new business ties and economic impact to our region, which benefits us all."

The growth for the Airport has resulted in DFW's economic value to the region increasing to USD 31.6 billion, with the Airport supporting more than 143,000 local jobs and over USD 9 billion in annual payroll.

Along with its record passenger numbers, the Airport also reported excellent financial results for 2014. The year-end financial report to the DFW Airport Board saw DFW Airport expenditures come in under budget by USD 11.4 million dollars. DFW's total expenditures for the year ended up at USD 649.8 million, 1.7 percent below budget.

Additionally, DFW's non-aviation revenue (earnings from parking, concessions, rental cars and commercial development) came in at USD 297.1 million, 7.4 million or 2.6% better than budgeted. The strong performance of DFW's non-aviation businesses allowed the Airport to set a new record for net earnings at USD 102.3 million, which in turn enabled DFW to reduce airline cost by USD 34 million dollars this year with airline partners.

DFW's Terminal Renewal and Improvement Program (TRIP) was updated in conjunction with American Airlines and encompasses plans for Terminal C and new parking garages. In total, 2000 construction jobs are associated with the ongoing TRIP program.

The Airport also continued its strong performance with business diversity and development as DFW reached record levels of diversity spend and revenues, with expenditures totaling over USD 213 million and revenues totaling USD 179 million, respectively.

The Airport's performance in the bond market was also a highlight, with DFW issuing three new money bonds to raise USD 456 million in funding to complete renovation work in Terminals A and E, and two phases of Terminal B. DFW also issued three refunding bonds, resulting in debt service savings of USD 35 million for the Airport.

DFW's strong financial performance also places the Airport among the lowest cost airport hubs for its competitive set, ranking third overall in terms of lowest cost per enplanement for airlines.

DFW Airport also achieved its operational and customer service goals for the year. Notable among those, DFW customers this year saw a 50% reduction in Customs processing time, from an average of 28 minutes to an average wait of 14 minutes. The year saw DFW launch more new services for international travelers, offering Automated Passport Control© (APC) with automated passport processing for eligible international travelers, customers from all 38 visa waiver countries, and customers with only carry-on bags and Lawful Permanent Residents (citizens with "green cards").

Other highlights of 2104 included the expansion of parking services with high technology customer conveniences to quickly see and locate parking spaces, new mobile conveniences for customers with DFW Airport's Mobile App, including a voice concierge, a restaurant/shop finder and customizable weather information, and new concessions geared toward the demographics of the travelers in each terminal.