Passenger numbers at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) show strong signs of recovery with some of the busiest days since the COVID-19 pandemic halted the aviation industry last year.
In March 2021, the number of departing passengers at SDF increased to more than 60% of 2019 traffic levels for most of the month with 93,970 total enplanements. SDF is experiencing days where passenger numbers are close to or at the same pre-COVID travel levels with the week of March 21 serving as the busiest week since before the pandemic. That week saw enplanements increase to more than 65% of pre-pandemic numbers. Passenger traffic at SDF continues to outpace the national average and did so by as much as 14% during a two-week period in March.
“These numbers tell us that Louisville is in a robust recovery and we are glad to see our customers taking to the skies once again to connect with friends and family and conducting business face-to-face,” said Dan Mann, Executive Director of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority. “Our airline partners have quickly responded to the increased demand in people traveling by adding capacity and new service. We are quickly trending towards pre-pandemic levels, leaving us very optimistic as we look towards the summer travel season.”
Momentum continues at Louisville’s airport with a record high 35 nonstops destinations, following Spirit Airlines’ announcement they will begin service on May 27 to Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX) and Orlando (MCO) as well as Pensacola (PNS) on June 10. In addition, Allegiant Airlines will begin service to Charleston (CHS) on May 28. Southwest Airlines also launched new service to Atlanta (ATL) in November 2020 and Fort Myers (RSW) in March 2021. Delta Air Lines also resumed nonstop service to New York’s LaGuardia (LGA) this week on April 12.
“The fact that the airlines are announcing new service, the record number of nonstops and rebounding traffic, speaks to the strength of our market,” added Mann. “We believe SDF is well-positioned in the industry to emerge from the pandemic stronger than before.”
