Photo: RBRA

Officials at Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport say there is some relatively welcome news within the July passenger numbers, even if they are down by about two-thirds from the year before. Airport Spokesperson Brad Boettcher says as sharp as that decline is, the July numbers are up more than 50% from June, and Roanoke’s year-to-year passenger counts have held up better than national averages. Boettcher says airlines take notice, and in Roanoke’s case, they have already acted accordingly; American, for instance, had slashed Charlotte flights from eight a day to three, but that number has rebounded to five. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story: