Passenger volume on flights out of Philadelphia International Airport has doubled since 1990 to nearly 16 million last year, according to a new report on the airport's economic impact.
International travel is still a small portion of outbound airport travel compared to domestic flights, but that too has made big gains, relatively, to 2.2 million passengers last year. That's up from 400,000 in 1990. Domestic travel climbed to 13.5 million passengers, up from 7.4 million.
"Both the volume and composition of passenger activity at PHL have been relatively stable over the past decade, with significant growth occurring over a longer time frame," the report by Econsult said, noting that large growth in the 1990s and early 2000s was "constrained" a bit by the Great Recession.
The report by Econsult highlights growth in impact to tourism and the overall economy as well as the thousands of jobs directly related to the airport. Airport officials said the report, which is the first in a decade, will serve as the baseline for a new effort to analyze economic stimulus by the travel hub every two or three years going forward.
"The analysis finds that the direct and indirect economic activity associated with PHL across a range of categories produces $15.4 million in annual output ... supporting 96,300 jobs and $4.8 billion in total earnings," the report said.
City officials, including Mayor Jim Kenney, helped release the report Monday morning at a press conference. His commerce chief emphasized what he said is enthusiasm by the 120 airlines that fly in and out of the airport.
