FORT SMITH, Ark. — Traffic at the Fort Smith Regional Airport is slowly recovering from COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns in 2020, and Airport Director Michael Griffin estimates a new connection to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport or a major northeast hub could happen in 2023.
Enplanements at the airport in the first seven months of 2022 totals 35,427, up 24.8% compared with the same period in 2021. The total is down 52% compared with the same period in 2019, the year before the pandemic hit when enplanements totaled 95,670 for the year. July 2022 enplanements were 5,823, up 14.9% compared with 5,068 in July 2021.
U.S. enplanements through May totaled 76.108 million, the latest data available from the U.S. Department of Transportation, up 31.3% compared with the same period in 2021.
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