July may have brought us soaring temperatures, but the record heat was joined with soaring levels of air travel…
“…We just released the July passenger numbers for the airlines in North Dakota and then the 15th consecutive record-breaking month for our airline travelers in the state, which is just great news. We're excited to see the continual growth. We had over 122,000 passengers board our airports in North Dakota for the month of July, which is a record for that month.
The previous one was set last year in 2024, and we saw a 9% increase year over year, so about 10,000 more travelers this July than last July, which is pretty astounding.”
Kyle Wanner is Director for the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission. He says the on-going trend of increased boardings has prompted airlines to take notice and add new flights along with using bigger planes with more available seating. But Wanner says the increased traffic could result in the need for improvements to airport infrastructure. He says this week’s opening of a new parking ramp at Fargo’s Hector International is one sign of things to come…
“…We're always looking at investments being needed to, you know, pavement infrastructure, those runways, taxis, aprons, you know, all those sort of things. As far as upgrades for commercial travelers, you know, Dickinson is moving forward to start construction. Probably early 2026, we're going to see construction on a brand new terminal that's going to be built in Dickinson to accommodate the jet service that they currently have and hopefully accommodate future growth there.
Additionally, Bismarck right now is currently in the planning stages of looking at a terminal expansion project. You know, we believe that that's going to be on the horizon too, probably, you know, looking at, you know, 2028, 2029.”
Wanner says July also saw boarding records set at airports in Devils Lake, and Williston. The Williston numbers broke a record standing 10-years.