DICKINSON — North Dakota’s business service airports ended 2022 with a complete of 1,028,159 airline passenger boardings, progress of 141,350 passengers and a rise of 16% from 2021, in accordance with the state Aeronautics Fee.
The state’s eight business service airports skilled a rise in passenger numbers in 2022 in comparison with the earlier 12 months. Regardless of main winter storms that prompted a spike in flight cancellations in November and December, the state surpassed 1 million passenger boardings for the 12 months, a milestone not seen since earlier than the 2019 pandemic.
Airline boardings in North Dakota have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with passenger numbers dropping greater than 50% in 2020.
In line with the fee, North Dakota’s airports nonetheless face challenges similar to a scarcity of pilots and different aviation-related jobs.
“Final 12 months was one of many important challenges for the aviation trade because it labored to regulate to a big restoration in passenger demand whereas on the identical time experiencing important labor shortages,” he mentioned in an announcement. press launch Kyle Wanner, government director of the North Dakota Aviation Fee.