Airport boardings at 10-year high in Grand Forks, ND

Grand Forks International Airport fell short in 2009 of breaking its 1994 record of 100,569 airline boardings, but officials said the airport should top 100,000 in 2010.

A total of 9,396 passengers boarded flights in Grand Forks in December, bringing the year-end total to a decade-high 95,633, up 11.76 percent from 2008, according to the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission.

Patrick Dame, executive director of the Grand Forks Regional Airport Authority, said one of his goals when he started last spring was to see more than 90,000 passengers board by the end of the year.

“With the new passengers we’ve achieved up in Winnipeg and all of the community support behind Allegiant and Delta, we’re going to see great numbers in 2010,” Dame said. “What a way to go into a new terminal.” Construction on the airport’s new terminal is under way and is scheduled to be completed in 2011.

Dame said work continues to attract another carrier. He said Allegiant Air may soon add more “seasonal flights” to destinations that helped the airport set its boardings mark.

“Having a full year of Allegiant flights to Vegas, then the spike boost from Phoenix flights in November and December was great,” Dame said. “There should be more options for snowbirds come February and March.”

A total of 719,869 passengers boarded at all eight of the state’s commercial airports in 2009, an increase of more than 5 percent from 2008. Aeronautics Commissioner Larry Taborsky said boardings across the country were down about 6 percent. Grand Forks joined Fargo, Devils Lake, Dickinson and Jamestown, N.D., in setting 10-year high records.

Hector International Airport in Fargo had 348,951 passengers board in 2009; Devils Lake Airport recorded 3,756.

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