North Dakota airline passenger boardings were up 10 percent in February, compared with February of last year.
"That's increible," said North Dakota Aeronautics Commissioner Kyle Wanner.
Wanner said last February's numbers also showed a 10 percent growth, compared with February, 2022. He said more than 97 thousand people traveled by air from North Dakota in February. And he believes the March numbers will be up as well.
"We would like to see some additional flights being added, as well as seat capacity, so that there are more options available to the flying public," Wanner said.
Wanner said the airplane load factor is at around 85 percent.
"That's really high,' Wanner said. "We'd like to see more seats available."
And Wanner said the airlines would like to add that capacity.
"It's difficult for them to do that, due to the workforce shortage a lot of them are seeing," Wanner said. "Especially with the lack of airline pilots right now. It's just going to take some time."
Wanner said the good news is – the UND flight school is full. And he said the state College of Science at Wahpeton is training aircraft mechanics.