Colorado Springs, CO – As air travel this summer has steadily returned, the Colorado Springs Airport (COS) has continued to see increases in enplanements, as well as available seats in the market. In the month of July 2021, 107,702 passengers were enplaned representing a 30.4 percent increase from July 2019 with 214,382 total passengers traveling through the terminal – a 29.8 percent increase from the same period in 2019.
Available seats also increased significantly, up 40.7 percent from July 2019 to 136,316 seats. For the month, COS saw an average 79 percent load factor, down 6.2 percent from July 2019. The increase of seats is attributed to Southwest Airlines beginning service in March 2021, as well as the other carriers increasing capacity with more flights or larger aircraft.
Enplanements, passengers, and seats in the market had a strong performance this summer and Labor Day is expected to produce similar results. With the increase in traffic, travelers are reminded to arrive 90 minutes prior to their flight departing and that the Federal mask mandate is still in effect and has been extended to January 18, 2022. Masks are required inside all areas of the airport and on all aircraft.