Airport Boardings Soar - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Airport Boardings Soar

As Minot prepares to welcome Frontier Airlines to the Magic City -- the airport is in the midst of what looks to be yet another record-setting year for boardings.

The latest numbers are out -- and once again, a record was broken for the month of September.

Last month just over 19-thousand passengers boarded flights at the Minot International Airport...marking the best September ever.

That number was about 500 less than the number who boarded flights at Bismarck's airport.

Minot Airport Director Andy Solsvig says it follows a trend of breaking records -- and in fact, 2012 has already reached a level never before seen in Minot.

(Andy Solsvig - Minot Airport Manager) "We have exceeded our record level of last year. We hit about 151 thousand and we are at 166 thousand year to date through September and we have three more months to go."

Statewide the increase in boardings for 2012 over 2011 in September was pinned at about 20 percent.

Five of the eight major airports in the state continue to be above record breaking pace for the year.

Meanwhile in Williston, boardings at Sloulin Field are on pace to break a record for the number of boardings in a year.

Airport Manager Steven Kjergaard says with three months to go they already have had 24 thousand boardings...and he expects that number to grow to 30 thousand by the end of the year.

And 2013 should easily shatter the record hit this year.

Delta and United will be starting direct service to Minneapolis and Denver next month...and when that happens, the number of seats available each day out of Williston will jump from about 100 all the way to about 300.

Kjergaard says he anticipates the number of boardings shooting up to between 60 and 90 thousand.