Airport aims to reverse declining passenger numbers

(AP) — Officials at the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport have so far been unable to stem a four-and-a-half year trend of falling passenger numbers but they are hopeful new grants and partnerships can attract more travelers.

Clay Williams, executive director of the airport, said ongoing conversations with airlines, as well as a new grant aimed at marketing, could attract more frequent flights and larger airplanes.

"What we need to ask is what are the ways we can incentivize and provide tools that airlines can utilize to abate risk when coming into a market," Williams said.

Officials are also working with the three major airlines that already fly through Gulfport-Biloxi — United, American and Delta — to increase the number of flights and the size of the jets that fly into and out of the airport.

Delta has already opted to fly large aircraft rather than regional jets to the area and Williams expects an overall trend in the airline industry toward bigger airplanes to push American and United to soon do the same.