Travelers are continuing to return to the skies in big numbers, with passenger numbers at the Colorado Springs Airport surging to a 16-year high in July.
The 107,702 passengers boarding outbound flights last month was the most since 108,969 passengers flew out of the airport in July 2005, according to reports on the airport’s website. Southwest Airlines, which started serving Colorado Springs in March, again boarded the most passengers, 41,282, during July, or about 3,400 more travelers than the previous month. The airport’s other four airlines also added passengers during the same period.
“July was a big month. This community has clearly stepped up and embraced Southwest, and Southwest has shown they want to be a key part of the Colorado Springs community,” said Greg Phillips, the city’s director of aviation. “We are expecting significant (passenger) traffic for the Space Symposium, and August has been a strong month so far, so we are expecting good numbers for all of August as well.”
About 8,000 people are attending the four-day symposium this week at The Broadmoor, the biggest convention held in Colorado Springs, and many stay an extra day or two in the Springs as a vacation. The airport also operated its own shuttles during the symposium to ferry travelers to local hotels during periods when no taxis, Uber or Lyft drivers were available to ensure no travelers were stranded at the airport.
“I am thrilled and happy that our July numbers are the best in many years,” Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said Wednesday. “The vast majority come from Southwest and all of their new flights. I think it (their service to Colorado Springs) is going very well and so does Southwest. If COVID doesn’t change people’s travel plans, it is looking good to hit 800,000 passengers this year and 1 million in 2022.”
Southwest Airlines welcomed its first flight to Colorado Springs on Thursday, March 11, 2021 with cheers, applause and high fives, a moment nearly 20 years in the making. (Video by Skyler Ballard)
The airport hasn’t boarded more than 1 million passengers since 2007. Airport officials forecast that 764,000 passengers will leave this year on departing flights, more than double last year’s total but down 9.2% from the 2019 total. The airport’s passenger numbers peaked at 2.42 million in 1996, when the now-defunct Western Pacific Airlines operated a hub in Colorado Springs.
Airlines have boarded 470,491 passengers during the first seven months of the year, more than double the total from the same period last year and up 1.2% from the same period in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic slowed air travel. Passenger numbers typically slow in September and October before increasing during the traditional holiday season in November and December.
Overall, the five airlines flying to Colorado Springs sold 79% of their seats during July. That edges up to 82.1% if Southwest pass-through passengers — meaning passengers making an intermediate stop in the Springs after boarding at an earlier destination — are included. That is the highest since the pandemic triggered widespread business shutdowns and curtailed travel. Airlines have filled 68.2% of the seats on their Colorado Springs flights during the first seven months of the year, up from 63.4% a year ago but off from 85.5% during the same period in 2019.
This content was originally published here.
