Springfield airport records 2nd-best passenger count

Springfield-Branson National Airport recorded its second-best passenger traffic count to date in 2022.

Total passengers last year came to roughly 1.1 million, a 14.6% increase from 2021, according to a news release. The count came just below the record of 1.2 million passengers set in 2019.

"Second best isn’t normally an item of note, but it’s nearly a complete recovery from the passenger downturn created by the pandemic, when annual passenger numbers were down more than 50%," airport officials said in the release.

Officials cited a strong Springfield economy and pent-up travel demand.

Other statistics in the airport’s annual report:
• The number of airline seats available in Springfield rose by 4% in 2022.
• Flights leaving Springfield on average were 88% full, an improvement of eight percentage points compared with 2021.
• Aviation fuel loaded on aircraft topped 8.5 million gallons, a 9% increase from 2021.