Briefly in the news

Operating revenues at John Wayne Airport jumped 11.1% in October

compared with the same month in 2000, while other revenues fell.

During the month, receipts from rental car revenue sank 28.8%,

according to a memo Airport Director Alan Murphy sent to the Orange

County Board of Supervisors.

Concession revenue was also up a scant 1.1% for the period.

The Thanksgiving week, typically among the busiest of the year,

provided little in the way of increased traffic, airport officials said.

For the week of Nov. 19 to Nov. 25, passenger traffic actually dropped

6.4% from the previous week. It was also down 8.3% when compared with the

same week in 2000.

The 11 commercial airlines flew 12.2% fewer flights than the same

period a year ago. This was an 11.7% drop from the previous week.

Airport officials did not immediately provide reasons for the

disparity between rising operating revenue and falling loads on planes.