Vail business leaders are cautiously encouraged by an increase in winter season advance bookings to Eagle County Airport.

Terminal manager Chris Anderson says winter flight bookings are up 4.5 percent from last year.

The airport has added a weekly Delta Airlines flight from Detroit and another day of service from Miami since it finished a runway extension this summer. Last year, the airport saw a 3 percent drop in early bookings from 2007.

The Vail Valley Partnership says its lodging bookings are up 20 percent over this time last year. But Kelli McDonald, who is the town of Vail's economic development manager, says bookings in town are down 8 percent for November, 7 percent for December and 5 percent for January.

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McDonald says those figures are through Sept. 30, and that new figures should be ready next week.

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Information from: Vail Daily, http://www.vaildaily.com