EBS STAFF
More than 2.2 million passengers traveled through Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport in 2022, setting yet another all-time passenger record for the state’s busiest airport, according to a release from the airport.
“[Bozeman] continues to see exceptional growth, creating economic opportunity for all of southwest Montana,” Brian Sprenger, airport CEO, stated in the release.
The 2022 passenger numbers represented a 16.7% increase over the prior record, which was set in 2021. International arrivals grew by 71% year over year, from 107 in 2021 to 183 in 2022. The release stated that more than two of every five people traveling to or from Montana by air last year went through the Bozeman airport.
The three busiest carriers at the airport by passenger volume were Delta Air Lines, with 622,232 passengers; United Airlines, with 588,474; and Southwest Airlines, with 446,867. Last year’s passenger numbers made the Bozeman Yellowstone International the seventh-busiest airport in the Northwest, which includes Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Washington, Wyoming and Utah.
Construction at the airport also continued in 2022, the release stated. The airport finished an $8 million expansion of its pay parking lot, which allows the airport to accommodate more than 3,500 vehicles. It also expanded the arrivals curb by nearly 300% in an effort to make peak arrival times less hectic.
Also added to the airport were a new ramp, roadway and infrastructure on the north side to serve local flight schools, as well a rehabilitation and expansion of the terminal apron.
Inside the airport, a $23 million in-line baggage handling system is being built and construction is expected to wrap up this summer.
