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SOUTH BEND ― Even with a still-lingering shortage of pilots, South Bend International Airport is on track to reach passenger totals that haven’t been seen since 2019.
“We’re going to come close to or exceed 2019, which is our best over the past 15 years,” said Mike Daigle, executive director of the airport. “We’ve had double-digit increases in eight of nine months so far this year.”
February was the only month that fell short of a double-digit increase, registering a 9.56 percent gain over February 2022, Daigle said, pointing out that momentum seemed to gain steam in August and September when year-over-year increases reached almost 20%.
Summer 2022: How the South Bend airport is dealing with a crew shortage and how it’s affecting flights
“There’s been somewhat of a rebound in business travel, but the market is also being more loyal to the airport,” Daigle explained, adding business and leisure travelers are opting for the convenience and proximity of South Bend over the distance and hassles than can come with flying out of Chicago or other locations.
No one knows the exact breakdown of passengers using the airport for business or leisure travel, but Jeff Rea, president and CEO of the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce, suspects most of the growth is from leisure travelers.
“I think there’s still pent-up leisure demand from the pandemic,” Rea said. “Business travel is not quite back yet, and it might never be back to where it was.”
That’s because businesspeople and others are making greater use of the teleconferencing technologies they got used to during the pandemic, said Rea, who believes there’s still a lot to be said about in-person business meetings.
Through the first nine months of the year, the airport reported that there were 263,095 boardings, compared to 230,581 through September 2022. And based on that pace, Daigle believes the airport could reach or possibly exceed the 417,929 travelers who used the airport in 2019.
“We’re up 14% for the year and gaining momentum,” Daigle said. At that pace, the airport would end 2023 with 416,569 passengers, just slightly below 2019 totals.
Besides the addition of daily service to Detroit by Delta Airlines in September, airlines have been making use of larger aircraft at the airport so that it can carry more passengers without necessarily offering additional flights, explained Julie Curtis, airport vice president of marketing and air service development.
Hub connection: Delta restarting service from South Bend to Detroit on Sept. 10
In addition, there’s been ongoing growth in special service for destination events, meaning that airlines offer direct service from Washington, D.C., and New York, for example, to accommodate Notre Dame fans who might want to fly in for football games, Curtis added.
Conversely, the airlines also offered direct service from Los Angeles to South Bend for USC fans who wanted to come for the game against the Fighting Irish on Oct. 14, Curtis said, pointing out that event flights are scheduled prior to the season.
Beyond the larger aircraft and growth in special event travel, Daigle also believes some of the growth is attributable to the 12 non-stop flights to travel destinations such as Las Vegas and Orlando/Sanford and airline hubs such as Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., that connect with major cities across the country and around the world.
The airport provides a calculator that aims to help travelers make an informed decision about the time and costs ― parking, tolls and gas ― involved in bypassing South Bend International for Midway or O’Hare airports in Chicagoland.
When area travelers choose to fly out of South Bend versus driving to another airport, it also assists in ongoing efforts to convince airlines to offer more seats and destinations here versus some other airport across the country, according to Daigle and Curtis.
And more service here not only benefits travelers but the overall economy because incoming visitors are likely renting cars here and spending money at area hotels and restaurants, Daigle said, pointing out that the most recent study estimates that the airport provides an annual economic impact of $1.7 billion.
If the rebound in airport travel provides some benefit now for the region’s economy, it also brings the potential of future benefit because it’s one of the factors that businesses consider when weighing the location of a new office or factory.
“Commercial connections are an important part of our sales pitch,” Rea said. “The second piece is having an airport that can support private corporate jets, especially as more businesses have multi-national investments.”
Email Tribune staff writer Ed Semmler at esemmler@sbtinfo.com.
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