Record growth continues at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) with an increase of 12.5% in passenger traffic for the first six-months of the year, totaling 2,049,504 passengers. This marks the busiest first and second quarters in the airport’s history.
During the past six months, the airlines added an additional 141,093 departing seats to Louisville’s flight schedule, a 12.2% capacity increase. The addition of American Airlines service to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Frontier Airlines to Orlando International Airport (MCO) and Southwest Airlines to William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) in Houston and Dallas Love Field (DAL) have attributed to the increase. Larger aircraft and greater frequency to existing routes also helped fuel growth.
“This is great, positive momentum that really shows the strength of the Louisville market,” said Dan Mann, Executive Director of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority. “Not only are our passenger figures on the rise, but even more telling is the rate at which we are growing. Month after month we continue to break records, even as the airlines are adding additional capacity. All of these are great signs for our airport and leave us very optimistic about the future.”
Capacity growth is strong at SDF for the remainder of 2019. American Airlines added a second daily flight to the Miami International Airport (MIA) and larger mainline aircraft on some flights to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). Delta Air Lines added a fourth flight to New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and Allegiant Air is extending flights to the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport (VPS) through the winter.
Since September 2018, nine of the 10 months have set passenger records. June was the busiest month in SDF’s history with 206,000 enplanements. May followed as the second busiest month with 201,000 enplanements and celebrated the airport’s busiest day ever on Sunday, May 5, the day after the Kentucky Derby, with a total of 13,380 departing passengers.
The constant and continued increase of enplanements has placed Louisville Muhammad Ali International on track to have the busiest year in the history of the airport.
Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport is served by six airlines offering flights to more than 30 nonstop destinations including 19 of the region’s top 20 domestic markets. With just one stop, travelers from across the region can reach more than 460 destinations in the U.S. and worldwide.
