Colorado Springs Airport preparing for big travel numbers this summer
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- With just a few days until one of the biggest travel days for Americans, the Colorado Springs Airport is seeing an increase in traffic showing that this summer could be a good one for the air travel industry.
For the month of April, COS had nearly 68,000 passengers board planes at its gates, which represents a 15% increase when compared to 2019, which is pre-pandemic.
Dana Schield with the Colorado Springs Airport said, “Obviously we have a new airline at COS; we welcomed Southwest in March. Also, airlines have added capacity, they’ve added larger aircraft, more flights, and things like that. We have seen an increase in capacity overall, 68% more seats on the market.”
And the demand for travel is only expected to increase in the coming months, especially over this weekend. Memorial Day Weekend seats are currently up 48% versus 2019. On top of that, flights for the summer have increased from 34 per day in 2019, to 40 currently.
“I think in general it’s really positive for air travel. We are seeing a resurgence and people are coming back to travel and feeling more comfortable. I think that not only the Colorado Springs Airport but aviation as a whole is seeing a positive turn.”
On Sunday, across the nation, TSA screened 1.86 million passengers, which is the highest daily total since March 2020. As more Americans pass through airports, the Transportation Security Administration plans to hire another 1,000 officers by July 4. This comes after they already hired more than 3,000 officers since January.
Schield said, “I think as far as TSA goes we have seen an increase in volume through our TSA checkpoint. It’s been a little hire since 2019 and so that’s a positive so adding more TSA officers is obviously a great indication that they are anticipating not only to continue but that they are building for a rebound in air travel.”
And as that summer travel approaches, COS is offering half off long term parking. The goal is to welcome travelers back and show appreciation to the Colorado Springs community who fly COS.
