October boardings put Colorado Springs Airport on track for highest enplanements since 2000

Jessica Snouwaert, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Updated ·1 min read

Nov. 17—Passenger traffic at the Colorado Springs Airport continues to climb ahead of the busy holiday travel season.

Enplanements, or travelers boarding planes out of the Colorado Springs Airport, hit 100,830 in October, up 2.9% from October 2021 and an increase of 26.2% from October 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic and the addition of Southwest Airlines, airport data showed.

"October had outstanding traffic performance at COS," Greg Phillips, the city's aviation director, said in a news release. "We are seeing increased traffic and load factor performance, and we expect that momentum to continue going forward."

Considering October's strong enplanements and the projected boardings for the rest of the year, 2022 is expected to have the highest enplanements since 2000, said Joe Nevill, air service development manager for the airport.

Available seats were down from the last year by 4.4% but still up from pre-pandemic levels by 28.3%. The airport is served by Southwest, American, Delta and United; Frontier Airlines ended its Springs service early this month. Sun Country Airlines, meanwhile, announced this week that it will launch a nonstop seasonal route next summer between Colorado Springs and Minneapolis/St. Paul.

As usual, fares around the holiday season are expected to be elevated because of increased demand and travelers are encouraged to book in advance, Nevill said.

The airport is offering its annual holiday parking promotion of $4 a day for long-term parking from Monday to Nov. 27 and Dec. 21 to Jan. 2.