TEXARKANA, Ark. - Like it's been for other industries in the area, COVID-19 has and still is proving to be a problem for commercial passenger flights from Texarkana Regional Airport.
Last year, the airport had four daily flights carrying local passengers to and from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. By the end of last year, flights dropped to three. And within the last three weeks, Texarkana Regional now has only two flights - one morning and one evening - seven days a week to and from Dallas, said Shannon Elliot, the airport's finance director.
Besides the cut in daily flights, which could potentially go to just one flight per day, Elliot said the downturn in commercial flights has also had a ripple effect on the airport's income from parking fees and car rentals.
There is one bright note. Last month the airport was initially projected to have an 80% drop in commercial passenger traffic, but that hasn't happened yet.
The figure came to slightly more than half that, about a 47% drop in commercial passenger traffic