July 20, 2022
North Dakota’s air travel demand during the summer months remains strong as our residents and visitors take advantage of the state’s air service opportunities. During the first half of calendar year 2022, North Dakota’s eight commercial service airports provided a total of 497,322 passenger boardings. This is a growth of 118,498 passengers or a 31% increase when comparing the statewide passenger counts to the first six months of 2021.
July 20, 2022
Steve Blazek was recently appointed by Governor Burgum to serve on the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission for a 5-year appointment that became effective on July 1st, 2022. Steve is a Senior Vice President of Business Banking at First International Bank & Trust in Fargo. He has more than 38 years of experience in the banking industry and helps business customers find lending, deposit, and treasury management solutions to help reach their financial goals.
July 15, 2022
Goal-setting for disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) with capabilities in the transportation industry is required by 49 Code of Federal Regulations Part 26. The following goal is applicable for the 2023-2025 federal fiscal years (October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2025).
June 16, 2022
The commercial service airports throughout the state have been reporting that overall airline load factors have been high and that conversations with airline partners requesting additional flights and seat capacity has been ongoing. A high load factor indicates that an airline has sold most of its available seats and is an indicator of strong demand. The available seats and flights available to the traveling public throughout North Dakota is currently still lower than pre-pandemic levels as airlines continue to communicate difficulties in adding capacity into the system due to workforce challenges. In order to once again see sustainable growth above pre-pandemic levels, additional flights and/or larger aircraft with additional seats will need to be added into the state’s system.
June 16, 2022
On June 16th, the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission met and finalized approximately $8.5 million in state infrastructure grant allocations to multiple public airports throughout North Dakota. These state grants are critical in maintaining the needed infrastructure to support the aviation industry, which is major contributor to the state’s overall economy and standard of living.
May 16, 2022
North Dakota’s eight commercial service airports posted a total of 76,553 airline passenger boardings during the month of April, 2022. This is a 23% increase from the 62,168 boardings that the state experienced in April, 2021. It is also approximately 17% below April 2019’s pre-pandemic passenger counts of 92,063. The multiple heavy snowstorms that our state experienced in April provided increased challenges for our airports and passengers as North Dakota experienced a larger than normal airline cancellation rate which resulted in a lower-than-expected statewide passenger count for the month.
May 5, 2022
Aeronautics Commissioner Cindy Schreiber-Beck has recently announced that she will not be seeking re-appointment for her position on the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission. Cindy was originally appointed as an Aeronautics Commissioner in 1997 and has served in this position for the past 25 years. “Cindy has been a tireless advocate for aviation throughout the years, both as an Aeronautics Commissioner and also at our capital as a state legislator,” stated Kyle Wanner, Executive Director for the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission
April 21, 2022
North Dakota’s eight commercial service airports posted a total of 97,561 airline passenger boardings during the month of March which is a 35% increase in passengers from March 2021. This month also brought the state’s highest level of airline passenger traffic that has been experienced over a monthly timeframe over the last two years.
March 25, 2022
North Dakota Aeronautics Commission is pleased to announce that our Executive Director, Kyle Wanner has been recently elected to serve as the Secretary for the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO).
March 16, 2022
On Sunday March 6th, seventeen pilots were presented with awards for participating in the “Fly North Dakota Airports” Passport Program. The passport program presents awards to pilots for flying to airports in the state as well as attending FAA Safety Seminars and visiting the two North Dakota Air Museums.