The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport has surpassed 2004 Pre-Katrina passenger numbers, according to latest data from the US facility. Based on year-end 2014 statistics, the Airport served a total of 9,785,394 passengers, an increase of 6.3 per cent as compared to last year.

The excellent calendar year performance builds on five consecutive years of growth and exceeding the 9,733,178 passengers carried in 2004 marks a significant milestone for Louis Armstrong International Airport and the New Orleans market.

The airport is currently served by 13 airlines which offer services to 45 non-stop destinations, including three international destinations. This is the highest number of non-stop destinations ever served directly from the airport.

“New Orleans Airport handles 80.3 per cent of Louisiana’s over all passengers,” Iftikhar Ahmad, director of aviation, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, told Routesonline on the opening day of this year’s Routes Americas forum in Denver.

“With five years of continued growth, we have broken numerous records including our total number of non-stops and U.S. enplanement ranking but surpassing Pre-Katrina passenger numbers was the most important to our team,” he added.

Since May 2010, the airport has secured new services from nine airlines flying to 19 non-stop destinations. In 2014 new links to San Diego, California by Southwest Airlines; Montego Bay, Jamaica by VacationExpress; Seattle, Washington by Alaska Airlines; Newport News, Virginia by PEOPLExpress; and the international destination of Cancun, Mexico by Delta Air Lines were added.

“Our City is breaking records in many different facets,” said New Orleans Councilman Jared Brossett, Chair of the Transportation and Aviation Committee. “The Airport continues to be a driving force for this region, and we look forward to breaking more records in 2015.”

This year new services have been confirmed to San Antonio, Texas by Southwest; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic by VacationExpress; Oakland, California by Southwest; and Cincinnati, Ohio, Orlando-Sanford, Florida, Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana, all by the ultra-low cost carrier, Allegiant Air. Also this week Branson AirExpress, operated by Orange Air, introduced non-stop links to Cancun, Mexico and Branson, Missouri including a direct flight to Cincinnati, Ohio.