ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, December 24, 1996             TAG: 9612240077
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 

ROANOKE REGIONAL ECONOMIC INDICATORS

A calendar fluke seems to be responsible for a 6.23 percent drop in the number of passengers boarding planes in Roanoke last month compared with a year ago. Mark Courtney, airport spokesman, said the Sunday after Thanksgiving - usually the busiest day of the year for airlines - fell in December this year, and December totals will be reported next month.

For the first 11 months, the airport counted 294,292 passengers, a drop of 1.89 percent from 299,967 last year.

LENGTH: Short :   20 lines
ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC:  color graphs of various economic indicators