2019 Was a Record Year at SGF

You’ve done it again. 2019 was another record-breaking year for our airport! The total passenger count for the year was 1,187,068. That’s up 10.4% over the year before. Thank you for flying Springfield!

And not to overwhelm you with numbers, but 2019 marked our eighth consecutive year of growth — between 2011 and 2019 our passenger numbers grew a sizzling 62%. Wow!

Why such strong growth? It boils down to a good local economy. When the economy is strong folks have more expendable income. That means more people fly.

Airlines have noticed our growth. Last year they increased capacity at our airport by 8%. What does that mean? It means they increased the numbers of airplane seats they had for sale in Springfield. They wouldn’t do that if they weren’t confident they could sell them.

Those of you who fly from SGF on a regular basis know that growth brings growing pains. Especially when it comes to parking. Construction is nearly complete on a new parking lot. It has approximately 750 parking spots and will be ready for the spring break crowds.

Parking improvements for 2020 include construction of a covered pedestrian walkway, and the addition of electric vehicle charging stations.

And finally …

When airlines see growth like ours it makes it a bit easier to convince them to add non-stop destinations. Now don’t get us wrong. We are not suggesting that airlines will now automatically start adding destinations from Springfield. What we are saying is that strong growth makes it easier for the airport to build a business case for more destinations. The business case is all that matters to an airline — it must be convinced that people will fly to a new destination, in sufficient numbers, to make the route a money maker. Hopefully, in the next year or two, the airlines will have some new destinations to announce.

So, bottom line, keep flying Springfield!