Carolina route welcomes back 737s

Passengers traveling between the two North Carolina cities of Wilmington and Charlotte are pleased to see the return of larger 737 jets to the route, The Wilmington Star reports.

The larger airplanes were originally replaced by smaller, regional jets, seating between 50 and 90 passengers on all the Wilmington-Charlotte flights on US Airways Express.

Yet when passenger numbers began to decline, the 126-seat 737s were reinstated on two of the eight weekly nonstop trips.

Wilmington Airport Director Jon Rosborough told the local newspaper that the larger planes were already filling up, "showing…we have the demand here to fill those seats".

However, following the airport's rapid growth over the past two years, recent figures suggest that Wilmington's popularity is tailing off, although officials say this is because the airport is now reaching capacity of its current facilities.

Year-on-year passenger numbers for April were down by 6.5 per cent and almost 9 per cent for the year to date. Aircraft taking off from the Queen City are, on average, 84 per cent full.

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