406.924.9559
Big news coming from Bozeman-Yellowstone international Airport which is in the middle of a large gate expansion right now. Passenger records and new flights being added.
Bozeman airport sets passenger record, adds flights to Nashville
By Melissa Loveridge Chronicle Staff Writer Jan 14, 2020
More passengers traveled through the Bozeman-Yellowstone International Airport in 2019 than ever before, with more than 1.57 million passengers during the year. That marks the 10th consecutive year the airport has beat its own record.
“It was just an all-around very strong year,” said airport director Brian Sprenger. “It means we’re growing very quickly, very much a result of a lot of different economic drivers in southwest Montana.”
According to a Tuesday news release, the number of passengers increased 17.3% from 2018. It increased 11.7% in 2018 and 8.4% in 2017.
“In 2019, we had about 231,000 additional seats over 2018, and as you can see we’ve filled almost everyone of those additional seats,” Sprenger said. “It’s very rare to add 231,000 seats and basically fill every one.”
Sprenger said the airport saw a small dip in passenger numbers in 2009 due to the economic recession. Since then, the number of passengers has been on a steady incline before last year’s big jump.
The Bozeman airport also announced Tuesday new seasonal direct flights to Nashville on Allegiant Airlines. The flights will run Thursdays and Sundays from May 21 until August 16. Sprenger said the flights are the first-ever direct flights from any airport in Montana to any airport in Tennessee.
“With the growing music and cultural scene in Nashville, there’s a lot of desire for a lot of people to go to Nashville for vacations,” Sprenger said. “But at the same time, in the summer when it’s hot and muggy in Tennessee, we think Montana will be a very appealing destination for many of the people in Nashville as well.”
Sprenger said he hopes Allegiant will consider expanding its seasonal service between Bozeman and Nashville to year-round if this summer’s flights do well.
Source: Bozeman airport sets passenger record, adds flights to Nashville
Bozeman airport adds direct flights to Boston, New York JFK
By Melissa Loveridge Chronicle Staff Writer Jan 16, 2020
The Bozeman-Yellowstone International Airport has added two East Coast nonstop flights to its ever-expanding offerings.
JetBlue in June will begin offering direct flights to New York’s JFK International Airport and Boston Logan International Airport.
“Boston is our number one market currently without nonstop service,” said airport director Brian Sprenger at a Thursday press conference. “We’re very excited.”
Sprenger said the airport had been interested in adding a direct flight to Boston for years. Connections between the Big Sky Ski Resort and Yellowstone Club and ski areas in Boston and New York helped push the flights from idea to reality. The airport already offers a direct flight to New York’s LaGuardia Airport but until now hasn’t offered nonstop service to JFK.
JetBlue added its first flight out of the Bozeman Airport in 2018 to Long Beach, California. Sprenger said he believes the popularity of that flight gave JetBlue some insight to the growth of the Bozeman airport and likely was a factor in establishing the two new flights.
Flights between New York and Bozeman will be several days a week, beginning June 11, and flights between Boston and Bozeman will be Saturdays and Wednesdays, beginning June 13.
Sprenger said the airport’s continued expansion is helping it keep up with consistent growth in flights and passengers. Earlier this week, the airport announced it had hit its all-time passenger record with more than 1.5 million passengers going through the airport in 2019.
With these new flights, the airport will offer up to 25% more seats in the first nine months of 2020 than it did in all of 2019, according to Sprenger. In addition to new flights, four new gates are expected to open as early as July 1.
Source: Bozeman airport adds direct flights to Boston, New York JFK