Jan. 28—Aberdeen's twice-daily commercial air service will continue with SkyWest as traveler numbers tick up after 2020.

The U.S. Department of Transportation formally approved SkyWest's bid for air service Jan. 20 with a three-year contract.

Aberdeen's commercial air service is considered an Essential Air Service and is typically bid every two years. Those bids include a proposed annual subsidy provided to the commercial air carrier.

SkyWest, operating on behalf of Delta Airlines, has been providing twice-daily commercial flights for Aberdeen and Bemidji, N.D., since 2012. All flights go to Minneapolis.

While each commercial air service agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation has been a two-year agreement, this year, a three-year agreement was approved. The extra year was proposed by SkyWest.

Aberdeen Transportation Director Rich Krokel said those longer agreements aren't a rare occurrence. When Essential Air Service bids are sought, he said, they're posted as two-year contracts, but a provider can propose a longer contract.

SkyWest was one of two bidders. Also bidding was Denver Air Connection. But, SkyWest provided the lower of the two proposals, with an annual subsidy of $3,207,595 for service in Aberdeen. It proposed $1,863,375 to provide service at Bemidji Regional Airport, which happens to be on the same bidding schedule as Aberdeen.

Krokel said he's happy with the renewal of the air service agreement.

Mayor Travis Schaunaman said having a commercial air service in Aberdeen is important.

Passenger numbers dropped in Aberdeen and across the country when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, but are rebounding.

In 2020, Aberdeen had 14,839 passengers board flights in Aberdeen, which was less than half that of 2019 when there were 29,702 boarding passengers in Aberdeen.

Last year, 22,536 passengers boarded flights in Aberdeen, up nearly 52%.

"It seems like we're moving in the right direction," Schaunaman said, noting that he expects that trend to continue. "I think there's a lot of pent up demand for travel."

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