Nashville International Airport Passenger Traffic Up 11 Percent in 2016

NASHVILLE ─ The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) today announced Nashville International Airport (BNA) served more than 12.9 million passengers in 2016, setting a new all-time passenger record for the calendar year.

In 2016, 12,979,803 passengers traveled into and out of BNA, an increase of 1,306,170 passengers representing a robust 11 percent increase over the previous year, and setting a new all-time passenger record for the fourth consecutive calendar year. December 2016 also marked the tenth consecutive month with more than one million passengers.

“2016 was a landmark year for Nashville International Airport on many different levels,” said Rob Wigington, Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority president and CEO. “We smashed the old passenger record; we welcomed multiple new airlines, routes and services; and we announced BNA Vision, our plan to grow and expand Nashville International Airport. The coming year holds much promise with continued growth in passenger traffic and an aggressive schedule of new capital projects as part of BNA Vision.”

“It’s been a whirlwind of a year, and we expect even more good things in 2017,” said Bobby Joslin, chair of MNAA’s Board of Commissioners. “We are all committed to serving Nashville and our neighbors all across Tennessee by keeping BNA a world-class airport and preparing for the continued growth on the horizon.”

In July 2016, MNAA announced BNA Vision, the Airport Authority’s dynamic growth and expansion plan for Nashville International Airport. To learn more about BNA Vision and to watch a video overview of the plans, visit https://www.flynashville.com/about/Pages/BNAVision.aspx.
Additionally, BNA launched a number of new initiatives and services in 2016, including:

• JetBlue joining the BNA team with twice-daily nonstop service to Boston and daily nonstop service to Fort Lauderdale,
• United Airlines beginning the long-sought after daily nonstop service to San Francisco,
• WestJet joining the BNA team with daily nonstop service to Toronto,
• Southwest Airlines beginning daily nonstop service to Charlotte,
• Frontier Airlines beginning service to Orlando, Chicago O-Hare, Philadelphia, Las Vegas and  Phoenix,
• Delta Air Lines beginning daily nonstop service to Boston,
• Contour Airlines joining the BNA team with nonstop service to Tupelo, Miss.,
• Boutique Airlines joining the BNA team with service to Muscle Shoals and Greenville, Miss.,
• Opening two new restaurants at BNA: Berry Field Bistro and Tennessee Brew Works,
• Completing installation of the largest geothermal lake plate cooling system in North America, which will cool the entire terminal building and save MNAA more than $430,000 in utility costs per year, and
• Opening BNA Express Park, a new parking lot option at BNA.

Some of BNA’s 2016 accolades included:

• Expedia naming BNA #1 among the “Top 10 U.S. Airports to Rent a Car,”
• Lonely Planet naming BNA one of the “Top 8 Airports in the World for a Long Layover,”
• The Tennessee Aeronautics Commission naming John C. Tune Airport (JWN) the 2016 Airport of the Year,
• JWN winning the 2016 SEC-AAAE General Aviation Project of the Year for its 2015 renovation,
• Airport Council International-North America (ACI-NA) awarding BNA a 2016 Environmental Achievement Award,
• BNA’s Geothermal Lake Plate Cooling System being named an “Infrastructure Game Changer” by the American Society of Civil Engineers, and
• BNA receiving the 2016 Airports Going Green Award.

BNA is currently served by 12 airlines and offers 440 daily flights. Nashville International Airport provides nonstop air service to more than 50 destinations.