Louisville airport sees record-breaking 4.6M passengers in 2023. Here are 4 takeaways

More than 4.6 million people flew in and out of Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport last year, making it the busiest year in the airport’s history.

Fueled by rebounding traveler interest coming out of the pandemic and an expansion of seat capacity and routes, the Louisville airport surpassed its previous record of nearly 4.3 million in 2019.

“None of this happens by accident," said Dan Mann, executive director of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority. "We have to be very intentional with growth ... none of this is possible without the airline partners trusting what we say, trusting our market and adding capacity and having faith that we'll do the right marketing to fill those airplanes up."

Here are some big takeaways from the airport’s record-breaking year and what’s on deck for 2024.

Passenger travel has bounced back from the pandemic

Passenger volume at Louisville’s main airport had been creeping up in the years before the pandemic brought air travel to a near standstill.

The airport recorded 3.87 million passengers in 2018 and followed it up with a (then) record-breaking 4.24 million passengers in 2019.

That figure plummeted and slowly rebuilt from 2020-2022, with nearly 1.64 million, 3.18 million, and 3.89 million passengers tallied each year, respectively.

Mann said while business travel hasn’t entirely returned to pre-pandemic levels, leisure travel has with an assist from the airport’s addition of ultra-low-cost carriers that make air travel more accessible to more people.

“These record-setting years are because we have 203,000 more seats on ultra-low-cost carriers,” he said, comparing 2023 to 2022. “It drives the pricing. The mainline carriers are reacting to that with larger aircraft and better fares. It really is a lot about the leisure market that frankly we didn't really have in 2018 and 2019.”

Louisville’s airport added Spirit Airlines and Breeze Airways in 2021 and Sun Country Airlines in 2023. Allegiant Air began service at the Louisville airport in 2017.

Last year saw a huge growth in the number of airplane seats flying in and out

Traffic peaked in October

While Kentucky Derby week, spring break and the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays often conjure images of packed airport queues, October was actually the busiest month for the Louisville airport.

Some 465,000 passengers flew in and out of the airport that month, followed by July (452,000) and May (nearly 439,000).

Natalie Chaudoin, airport spokeswoman, said fall break helps drive October passenger traffic and well as increased business and convention travel.

“It’s a phenomenon in our industry,” said Doug Bennett, Louisville Tourism executive vice president. “I’m not surprised to hear this strongest month was October because that’s typically our strongest month, too.”

Growth is ‘proof of concept’ for landing more new destinations

After landing a long sought-after Boston service in 2022, Seattle and Toronto remain atop Mann’s list of new destinations to secure for Louisvillians.

“Every time every time an airline trusts us to add capacity and we fill the plane up, it just makes us less risky than some other community,” he said Friday. “We're competing for a very mobile asset, and so every success we have makes it easier for the airlines to bet on Louisville.”

The number of scheduled seats across the airport’s eight commercial airlines was up more than 25% in 2023 over the year before (United Airlines led this growth, with a 53% capacity jump).

This 2023 capacity growth, compared to 2022, helped make the Louisville airport the fastest growing airport among the top 100 airports in the continental U.S., said Anthony Gilmer, vice president of air service development and strategic marketing.

Mann said he wants to leverage the 2023 momentum to be a proof of concept that the Louisville airport can successfully handle more routes. The airport has 37 nonstop destinations as of early 2024.

“This foundation, this success just brings more success,” he said. “And we're really excited about 2024. More capacity. More ultra-low-cost carriers.”

Construction, new concessions, retail planned for 2024

The airport is part way through the massive $400 million SDF Next Program (Mann said a growing to-do list may push this figure closer to $500 million), and 2024 will see continued work on this renovation plan.

The most recent change is a temporary reconfiguration of the security checkpoint passenger lines, set to last into early April.

Both the Brooks Brothers and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail stores have now permanently closed to make way for an expanded passenger queuing area.

Construction work is taking over the previous queuing space, leading the airport to implement a single-file security line for both TSA PreCheck and general screening. A larger overhaul of the security checkpoint is due to begin later this year.

Mann also teased a new retail concept for the post-security rotunda, saying only that it's "much more in demand."

Airport staff is also working on introducing pop-up bars at limited times of the year, such as during spring break season.

“They'll be in key points where you go get your cocktail, go back to the gate and wait for the airplane,” he said.

Growth & development reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at mglowicki@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4000 or on Twitter @mattglo.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville airport sees record breaking passenger numbers in 2023