Rapid City Regional Airport Sets Passenger Record in July, Director Says
Aug. 18—Rapid City Regional Airport saw more than 100,000 people travel through the commercial terminal in July, setting a new all-time monthly record, Airport Executive Director Patrick Dame said Wednesday.
"This is exciting news as we continue to recover from the pandemic. We anticipate even stronger numbers for August as travelers continue to seek the great outdoors again," Dame said. "We appreciate all our customers who are flying again, but I'm especially grateful for all the many different staff members at the airport who've worked diligently through the pandemic and into one of our busiest seasons ever."
In July, 100,223 passengers traveled through the airport, compared to the previous record in July 2019 of 89,054 passengers. Dame said 50,805 passengers boarded commercial aircraft in July, compared to 44,127 in July 2019 — a 15% increase.
Air traffic in July 2020 was severely impacted by the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, where passenger numbers were down nearly 60% when compared to this year.
Dame said the airport is down only 6% year-to-date when compared to the record year in 2019 and is expected to surpass 2019 by the end of the year.
The amount of airline jets servicing Rapid City Regional Airport in July is also up considerably over the past two years. In July 2021, 837 commercial flights were operated to and from the airport. That compares to 366 in July 2020 and 783 flights in July 2019.
Year-to-date, airlines have operated 3,455 flights to and from Rapid City. From January 2020 to July 2020, there were 2,093 flights and in January 2019 to July 2019 the airport handled 3,357 flights.
August flight traffic is expected to be even greater, since Allegiant Air dramatically increased nonstop flights during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines also increased service to Rapid City.
Contact Nathan Thompson at [email protected].
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