With a Strong Finish in 2021, Here's What Bellingham International Airport Expects for 2022

Jan. 12—Despite a host of pandemic and weather-related challenges, the Bellingham International Airport finished 2021 with better-than-expected passenger numbers.

The number of people who flew out of the Bellingham airport totaled 22,459 in December, according to data compiled by the Port of Bellingham. That's more than four times the total of 5,073 in December 2020 and almost matches the pre-COVID total of 26,596 in December 2019.

The year-over-year rebound happened even though the rise of the omicron variant and the cold weather conditions over the holiday week forced some flights to be canceled, said Sunil Harman, aviation director for the port. He added that border testing restrictions also kept the overall passenger numbers lower. Canadians represented about 47% of the airport's passenger totals before the pandemic.

"Local and regional demand from the U.S. side of the border during omicron was robust for the holidays even with severe weather due to arctic freezes," Harman said in an email.

One big reason for the uptick in passengers is the arrival of Southwest Airlines, which began service in early November. It offers service from Bellingham with three flights a day to either Oakland or Las Vegas using 143-seat Boeing 737-700 jets.

Southwest joins Alaska Airlines and Allegiant Air at the Bellingham airport. Alaska flies daily to Seattle, while Allegiant offers nonstop service to Las Vegas, Nevada; Los Angeles, Oakland, Palm Springs and San Diego, California; and Phoenix (Mesa), Arizona.

The strong finish to 2021 despite those challenges has Harman optimistic about 2022. He's projecting the airport will have around 332,000 passengers fly out of the airport this year, which would be a big jump over the 2021 total of 161,764. That's if the pandemic transitions into a more manageable endemic.

"There is an expectation that there will be some return to business travel and much more pent-up demand for discretionary vacation travel after border restrictions are lifted," Harman said.

The recovery of business travel remains an unknown, with industry experts suggesting that it won't begin to bounce back until after workers start returning to the office.

"As we get variants and mutations every day, when that stuff hits the headlines all we see is businesses pulling back on wanting to bring people back to the office, and that means (pulling back on) putting people on airplanes," said Bill Swelbar, chief industry analyst for the Swelbar-Zhong Consultancy, according to a recent article on the website Airport Experience News.

Whether the end-of-year rebound in passengers means more and new flights out of the Bellingham airport this year will depend on a variety of factors, including whether airlines can see a steady and sustained workforce and passenger recovery, Harman said, adding that it is important for Whatcom residents to give the local airport a chance to earn their business.

"Local airports that have the lowest levels of customer leakage are rewarded with lower fares and more airlines serving more markets," Harman said.

In terms of changes at the airport itself, this year the redevelopment of the former Washington Air National Guard site is expected be completed. It will have a new taxiway and two large aircraft storage hangars for corporate business aircraft.

___

(c)2022 The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.)

Visit The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.) at www.bellinghamherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.