Here’s Why Bellingham’s Airport Is Seeing More Passengers, but Fewer Flight Cancellations

    July 13, 2022

    By Dave Gallagher

    Source The Bellingham Herald/TNS

    Jul. 13—While many of the nation's airports are dealing with summer flight cancellations, so far that hasn't been much of an issue in Bellingham, which is seeing pre-pandemic levels of activity.

    Last month 29,848 people flew out of the Bellingham airport, according to airline data collected by the Port of Bellingham. That's more than the June 2019 total of 28,570 passengers and well ahead of June 2020 (5,024 passengers) and June 2021 (14,118) when more COVID-19 restrictions were in place.

    Port Aviation Director Sunil Harman said in an email that there are several reasons Bellingham has had few travel interruptions at the airport so far this summer, including having crews and planes based locally, favorable weather and a good balance of seats available versus demand.

    Harman pointed out that while the planes and crews are generally ready to go, other aspects of the airport, including Transportation Security Administration, are dealing with the impact of a tight labor market.

    "So as the airport continues to get busier we continue to urge departing passengers to arrive early," Harman said.

    In the first half of 2022, the Bellingham airport has seen 151,067 passengers fly out of the airport. That's about 14% lower than the first half of 2019, partly because of very little Canadian traffic in the first three months due to pandemic testing restrictions at the border. The passenger total for the first half of 2022 is more than double that in 2020 (60,889 passengers) and in 2021 (56,587 passengers).

    The airport is busy with several construction projects this summer, adding a snow removal equipment storage building and a taxi lane to the new Alpha Airpark and realigning another taxiway. The projects are 90% funded by the FAA's Airport Improvement Program.

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