Passenger traffic at Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport continued its multi-year pattern of growth in 2019. Passengers flying in and out of RKS during 2019 totaled 50,981, an increase of 5.94 percent over 2018 and 57.18 percent over 2016 during which 32,418 passengers boarded at RKS.
“Business and leisure travelers in Southwest Wyoming continue to recognize the convenience and value of flying local,” said Devon Brubaker, airport director. “Strong community support, additional capacity, improved airfares, free parking and continued industry-beating airline operational reliability have all played roles in the continuation of sustained passenger growth, which began in November of 2016.”
Continued passenger growth is expected in 2020 despite some economic headwinds thanks to an improved flight schedule beginning in March 2020 as well as an additional (3rd) seasonal flight to Denver five-days-a-week beginning in June 2020.
Passenger traffic was not the only growth experienced at the airport in 2019. The airport experienced an 8.93 percent increase in time sensitive and often operationally critical air cargo processed through the airport totaling 1,332,176 pounds. As a sign of continued growth in flight operations, the airport recorded its fifth consecutive year of increases in landing weight of commercially operated aircraft and jet fuel sales totaling 45,849,407 pounds and 492,111 gallons, respectively.
The Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport Board has embarked on a multi-year $40 million capital program to upgrade the airport’s facilities and equipment, including an $18.5 million modernization of the commercial passenger terminal. “These improvements will serve our airport and community for decades to come as we continue to serve as one of the region’s premier economic drivers,” said Jim Wamsley, chairman of the airport board. “Our efforts to secure Federal and State grant funding for these improvements will allow the community to benefit from an incredibly low local share of the cost.”
