Eastern Iowa Airport posts record month, passengers up almost 20%

CEDAR RAPIDS - June was another record month for travelers flying out of Eastern Iowa Airport.

A total of 127,333 passengers boarded commercial flights in Cedar Rapids that month, up 19.5 percent from June 2018 and the highest number of boardings in a single month.

The June figure is 4.6 percent more than the number of people who flew in March when the airport's previous monthly record was set.

For the first six months of 2019, passenger boardings are up 8.9 percent.

The higher passenger volume is due to a variety of factors, including larger aircraft, additional flights on existing routes, the addition of Nashville service on Allegiant and the annual start of a seasonal flight to Los Angeles on Allegiant, Airport Director Marty Lenss said in a statement.

'Airlines do monitor whether a market responds to additional capacity, so we are glad to see these strong passenger numbers,” Lenss said.

Passenger boardings will get another boost when American Airlines begins seasonal, daily nonstop service to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Dec. 18.

Allegiant has enjoyed success with its Nashville service, prompting the Las Vegas-based carrier to extend it beyond next month to the end of October.

United Airlines has added a third daily flight to Denver and Frontier Airline will increase its weekly flights to Denver from four to five.

Delta Air Lines has added a third daily flight to Atlanta.

The airport offers nonstop service to 15 destinations on five airlines.