North Dakota’s eight commercial service airports posted a total of 73,117 airline passenger boardings during the month of January 2022. This is a 73% increase from the 42,238 boardings that the state experienced in January 2021.
“Air service demand is significantly stronger than where we were one year ago, however it is also still approximately 18% below 2019’s pre-pandemic passenger counts.” stated Kyle Wanner, Executive Director of the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission. “Airlines continue to cite difficulties with their ability to increase flights and capacity due to workforce shortages and fleet availability. These challenges as well as a sustained lower demand for business travel are all factors that contribute to the difficulty for passenger numbers to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels in the short term. The silver lining is that North Dakota continues to maintain excellent air service options for their communities and has done so throughout the entirety of the pandemic.”
