Busy bees

While the Air Transport Association of America's 2008 Economic Report focused on aircraft fuel efficiency, it also contained some interesting tidbits on busy airports.

New York City metro area airports were in 11 of the 12 most traveled domestic origin and destination (O&D) city pairs. New York and the Windy City averaged the most with 4,839 O&D passengers per day.

New York also plays well with Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Francisco, Las Vegas, West Palm Beach, Miami, Boston and Tampa. No surprises there.

Island hopping makes for another happening route. Honolulu-Kahului, the seventh most traveled domestic city pair, averaged 2,660 daily passengers each way. I plan on upping that number someday.

Atlanta ranked number one in annual passengers with 42.7 million travelers and 991,627 aircraft takeoffs and landings. Chicago O’Hare International Airport ranked second in both categories, with 34.2 million passengers and 926,973 operations.

Memphis International Airport remained the busiest air cargo facility, enplaning 2.2 million tons of freight and mail. How many Elvis love letters are included? Anyway, Louisville, Anchorage and Miami fall next in line for cargo bragging rights.