Spokane International sets passenger record

The Spokane International Airport increased its traffic significantly in 2018, setting a new record for total enplanements with 1,998,949 enplaned passengers, according to a press release.

The record is the result of a 12 percent increase over last year’s enplanement total of 1,782,453. The airport also experienced a spike in total passenger activity, up more than 12.5 percent from 2017 to 3,998,272.

The number of enplanements represents the number of departing travelers from Spokane International Airport (SIA), while the total passenger activity figure represents the number of departing and arriving passengers combined, SIA’s marketing and communications manager Britt DeTienne said in an email.

“The continued support by passengers of existing service, plus the additional investment by Southwest, Frontier and Alaska Airlines in adding service to San Jose, Denver, Las Vegas and San Diego, has led to a second consecutive year of record-breaking enplanements,” Spokane Airport Board chair Nancy Vorhees said in a news release. “These results point to the strength of the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene regional economy and the growing demand for air service connectivity to existing and new markets, including international inbound and outbound travel.”

The increased activity has led to some changes in and around the airport property. A new economy parking lot recently added 1,400 customer parking spaces, and monitors were added in the terminals to provide real-time wait time updates for airport shuttles.

Employees dubbed “airport passenger screening assistants” have also been stationed in front of security checkpoints to assist passengers with the screening process. That particular addition was the brainchild SIA’s chief executive officer Larry Krauter, who noticed an increase in inexperience travelers during his daily rounds.

The outside surface parking lot is also set to be expanded in 2019, and airport officials are in talks to start construction on an extension of the terminal roadway system.

“Although the increase may not be as significant as this past year, we expect 2019 to be another positive year in terms of passenger growth at Spokane International Airport.” DeTienne said in an email.

Shannen Talbot can be reached at [email protected].