For the first time ever, Sky Harbor International Airport saw more than 50 million people come through its terminals as of December 2024.
Greg Roybal with Sky Harbor said that ending 2024 with just over 52 million passengers represents a huge milestone for the almost 90-year-old airport.
“It's truly the most we've ever done,” said Roybal, “and it's not even close.”
Especially given the uncertainties that came with the pandemic in 2020, Roybal said focus has been sharper than ever on improving everywhere they can think and afford to. But, he added, the new high extends a pre-pandemic trend of breaking yearly passenger records.
“Going back to 2018, that was a record year,” Roybal said. “2019 was a record year. 2020 and 2021, we were still in the throes of the pandemic. But then in 2022, we came back closer to our standard. And then last year was our high year to date at 48.65 million [passengers].”
He credited a strong local passenger base and continued improvement for helping get them there.
“Our growth, our continued health and our continued — the improvements we’re making, as well as the increase in passenger service, really does speak as much about how healthy our local traffic is,” said Roybal. “We have a very strong local passenger base.”
Roybal said they’re looking forward to making more improvements for travelers and behind the scenes to keep those numbers on the rise as smoothly as possible.
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