January 21, 2022
North Dakota’s commercial service airports finished calendar year 2021 with a statewide total of 886,809 airline passenger boardings. This is an increase of 314,716 passengers or a 55% increase from 2020. All eight commercial service airports were able to provide services to more passengers in 2021 than they did in the previous calendar year. In 2021, the airports also tallied 887,914 passenger deplanements for a grand total of 1,774,723 passengers (enplanements and deplanements) that traveled through the commercial service terminal buildings of North Dakota over the past year.
December 16, 2021
North Dakota’s eight commercial service airports posted 83,429 airline passenger boardings during the recent month of November. This amounts to a 95% increase from November 2020 and a 12.5% decrease from the November 2019 pre-pandemic airline boarding counts. Additional travel demand seen during the Thanksgiving weekend was reminiscent of pre-pandemic levels in North Dakota and throughout the rest of the country.
November 17, 2021
North Dakota’s eight commercial service airports posted almost 87,000 airline passenger boardings during the month of October. The demand for air travel in North Dakota has seen a steady recovery throughout 2021 and has currently stabilized to approximately 15% below pre-pandemic numbers.
October 19, 2021
Over the last four consecutive months, North Dakota’s airports have been able to sustain passenger demand between 15% - 20% below the 2019 pre-pandemic levels. This is an encouraging sign; however, known challenges exist within the industry that have so far prevented a full recovery in passenger numbers. Airlines have cited an inability to add additional flights due to staff shortages and the industry has still not yet seen a strong recovery in business and government travel due to persisting COVID-19 concerns.
September 22, 2021
North Dakota’s eight commercial service airports posted a total of 82,371 airline passenger boardings during the month of August. This month experienced lower passenger traffic then July, but is still the second highest month of airline passenger demand experienced since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last three months, the statewide passenger counts have been sustained at approximately 15 - 20% below pre-pandemic levels.
August 13, 2021
North Dakota’s eight commercial service airports posted a total of 92,922 airline passenger boardings during the month of July. Multiple airports within the state have also reached or are close to reaching pre-pandemic passenger demand levels.
July 16, 2021
North Dakota’s eight commercial service airports posted a total of 81,499 airline passenger boardings during the month of June. This month experienced the highest level of passenger traffic that the state has seen since the Covid-19 pandemic began and continues the monthly positive trend of growing airline passenger demand. The June numbers show that the state is continuing its strong recovery as it is now only 19% below the pre-pandemic passenger levels by comparison to June of 2019.
June 14, 2021
North Dakota’s eight commercial service airports posted a total of 69,285 airline passenger boardings during the month of May. The demand for air travel has seen a steady recovery in recent months and has currently leveled to approximately 30% below pre-pandemic numbers. The industry has attributed the recent passenger growth to a recovery in leisure travel that has been ongoing due to warmer weather and a release of pent up demand.
June 11, 2021
The North Dakota Aeronautics Commission finalized approximately $5 million in state infrastructure grant allocations to multiple public airports throughout North Dakota. The awards are noted on the attached listings which show 102 individual projects have received grant awards at 53 different public-use airports throughout the state.
May 13, 2021
One year after COVID-19 concerns caused the largest monthly decline in airline passenger demand in history, North Dakota’s airports continue their work to recover from the impacts of the pandemic. The state’s eight commercial service airports posted a total of 62,163 airline passenger boardings during the recent month of April. This is a significant increase from the 4,964 passengers experienced during April of 2020 when the aviation industry experienced an astounding 95% decline in passengers due to the initial COVID-19 mitigations being put into place.