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BISMARCK — Commercial airline boarding numbers for March 2023 reached 101,146 passengers in March, representing an almost 4% increase from the same period last year, according to the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission.
These numbers also reflect the highest level of monthly airline passenger traffic seen in North Dakota over the past three years. Additionally, the last time that North Dakota surpassed 100,000 passengers over a one-month time period was in February 2020.
March is historically one of the busiest months for air travel in North Dakota. This year, five of the eight commercial service airports had higher passenger numbers than during the same time period last year. Fargo's Hector International Airport also achieved a new monthly passenger record with 48,032 passenger boardings in March 2023. This exceeds the previous monthly record of 46,021 passengers, set in December 2019.
Minot recorded 12,961 boardings, up .45% from a year ago. For the year to date, Minot boardings of 34,448 are up 4.29%.
"We are excited to see these recent passenger numbers, which demonstrate the continual resiliency and positive recovery in demand for air transportation services within North Dakota," said Kyle Wanner, executive director of the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission. "These figures are also a great indicator for North Dakota's economy, and we hope to see this trend continue as summer travel plans begin to take hold."